Queen Creek tops list of state’s biggest population gainers

Arizona’s cities and towns are growing fast and nowhere is this more apparent than Queen Creek, where the population has doubled in just eight years.

Queen Creek had an estimated population of 35,534 people in 2015. According to the 2022 population estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 70,000 people now live in the Phoenix suburb. That makes it not just the fastest-growing municipality in the East Valley, but in the entire state of Arizona.

The town has one of the highest median household incomes in Arizona, too, according to the 2021 American Community Survey. Its median of $111,743 puts it at No. 8 in the state, nearly the same level as Carefree, at $117,813. Paradise Valley tops the list at $203,659.

Most Queen Creek residents own their homes and nearly half the population has at least a bachelor’s degree, according to U.S census data.

Why is this burgeoning city so attractive to new financially well off and more educated residents? Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce President Chris Clark said it’s a combination of the geography, low crime rate, attractive buildings and good building standards.

“The town requires more variations in elevations so houses and buildings don’t all appear the same,” he said. “The walls of subdivisions are required to have more variations and use of different materials so you don’t have long runs of plain block walls. “

With landscaping, he believes these simple, small changes add details that create architectural beauty that attracts new residents.

Queen Creek’s average home price has trended downward in the past year, too. The median home price was $599,400 as of the end of July, according to Redfin. Even though that is still higher than metro Phoenix’s median price of $443,000, the price in the town has seen more than a 14% year-overyear decline.

Clark believes new residents are pouring into town because Chandler is full while Gilbert also is approaching capacity. He expects the town to increase to no more than 130,000 to 150,000 at full build out.

Behind Queen Creek, whose population grew by more than 16% between 2020 and 2022, Buckeye and Maricopa are the next biggest population gainers.

That growth puts the three among the top 15 towns and cities with the highest growth nationwide between 2020 and 2022.

For municipalities like Queen Creek, this population trend also means economic growth.

“Retailers are following the rooftops,” Clark said.

It is not just retailers. In March, Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution announced it was investing $5.5 billion in a cylindrical battery plant in Queen Creek, the first of its kind in the U.S.

What growth looked like in other Arizona cities

The latest population estimates show the population of Arizona’s cities and towns swelled by more than 480,000 people over the past eight years. Nearly one-third of those new residents moved in between April 2020 and July 2022.

Despite the record-breaking heat of the past few weeks, which triggered the perennial question about why people move to the Valley, at least 19,000 people made the decision to make Phoenix home between 2021 and 2022 alone. Though it grew by about 2% since 2020 and nearly 4% since 2015, the city, currently the fifth-largest in the U.S., is expanding faster than other populous cities. Only San Antonio had a higher population growth rate in the past two years.

Flagstaff is the only Arizona city of more than 50,000 people where the population declined since 2020. It lost 1.5% of its residents, bringing the total population to 75,907 people from 77,090 in 2020. However, it has grown nearly 9% since 2015.