Graph and download economic data for Resident Population in Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (MSA) (PHXPOP) from 2000 to 2024 about Phoenix, AZ, residents, population, and USA.

In 2023, the population of the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metropolitan area in the United States was about 5.1 million people. This is a slight increase from the previous year, when the population was about 5.02 million people.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Phoenix metro area from 1950 to 2025.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Phoenix population over the last 20 plus years. It lists the population for each year, along with the year on year change in population, as well as the change in percentage terms for each year. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population change of Phoenix across the last two decades. For example, using this dataset, we can identify if the population is declining or increasing. If there is a change, when the population peaked, or if it is still growing and has not reached its peak. We can also compare the trend with the overall trend of United States population over the same period of time.

Key observations

In 2023, the population of Phoenix was 1.65 million, a 0.38% increase year-by-year from 2022. Previously, in 2022, Phoenix population was 1.64 million, an increase of 1.15% compared to a population of 1.63 million in 2021. Over the last 20 plus years, between 2000 and 2023, population of Phoenix increased by 322,874. In this period, the peak population was 1.68 million in the year 2019. The numbers suggest that the population has already reached its peak and is showing a trend of decline. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP).

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP).

Data Coverage:

• From 2000 to 2023

Variables / Data Columns

• Year: This column displays the data year (Measured annually and for years 2000 to 2023)
• Population: The population for the specific year for the Phoenix is shown in this column.
• Year on Year Change: This column displays the change in Phoenix population for each year compared to the previous year.
• Change in Percent: This column displays the year on year change as a percentage. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Phoenix Population by Year. You can refer the same here

This dataset contains Community Statistical Areas (CSAs) boundaries created by the Arizona Department of Health Services to represent Arizona communities while maintaining population numbers sufficient for statistical analysis. Using census tracts as the base geography, CSAs are updated every Census using a repeatable rule based methodology intended to preserve community boundaries, provide population numbers conducive to statistical analysis, and account for demographic variation.Summary:139 Community Statistical Areas56 in metro Phoenix area20 in metro Tucson areaPopulations of 10,000-200,000 (except tribal areas)Areas no greater than 7,500 square miles (except tribal areas)Reflect existing communities, including cities, towns, municipal planning areas (i.e. City of Phoenix Villages), and Tribal lands (reservations) A crosswalk between Census 2020 Tracts and CSAs is available here.Update Frequency: Every 10 Years (Decennial census)

Not many studies have documented climate and air quality changes of settlements at early stages of development. This is because high quality climate and air quality records are deficient for the periods of the early 18th century to mid 20th century when many U.S. cities were formed and grew. Dramatic landscape change induces substantial local climate change during the incipient stage of development. Rapid growth along the urban fringe in Phoenix, coupled with a fine-grained climate monitoring system, provide a unique opportunity to study the climate impacts of urban development as it unfolds. Generally, heat islands form, particularly at night, in proportion to city population size and morphological characteristics. Drier air is produced by replacement of the countryside's moist landscapes with dry, hot urbanized surfaces. Wind is increased due to turbulence induced by the built-up urban fabric and its morphology; although, depending on spatial densities of buildings on the land, wind may also decrease. Air quality conditions are worsened due to increased city emissions and surface disturbances. Depending on the diversity of microclimates in pre-existing rural landscapes and the land-use mosaic in cities, the introduction of settlements over time and space can increase or decrease the variety of microclimates within and near urban regions. These differences in microclimatic conditions can influence variations in health, ecological, architectural, economic, energy and water resources, and quality-of-life conditions in the city. Therefore, studying microclimatic conditions which change in the urban fringe over time and space is at the core of urban ecological goals as part of LTER aims. In analyzing Phoenix and Baltimore long-term rural/urban weather and climate stations, Brazel et al. (In progress) have discovered that long-term (i.e., 100 years) temperature changes do not correlate with populations changes in a linear manner, but rather in a third-order nonlinear response fashion. This nonlinear temporal change is consistent with the theories in boundary layer climatology that describe and explain the leading edge transition and energy balance theory. This pattern of urban vs. rural temperature response has been demonstrated in relation to spatial range of city sizes (using population data) for 305 rural vs. urban climate stations in the U.S. Our recent work on the two urban LTER sites has shown that a similar climate response pattern also occurs over time for climate stations that were initially located in rural locations have been overrun bu the urban fringe and subsequent urbanization (e.g., stations in Baltimore, Mesa, Phoenix, and Tempe). Lack of substantial numbers of weather and climate stations in cities has previously precluded small-scale analyses of geographic variations of urban climate, and the links to land-use change processes. With the advent of automated weather and climate station networks, remote-sensing technology, land-use history, and the focus on urban ecology, researchers can now analyze local climate responses as a function of the details of land-use change. Therefore, the basic research question of this study is: How does urban climate change over time and space at the place of maximum disturbance on the urban fringe? Hypotheses 1. Based on the leading edge theory of boundary layer climate change, largest changes should occur during the period of peak development of the land when land is being rapidly transformed from open desert and agriculture to residential, commercial, and industrial uses. 2. One would expect to observe, on average and on a temporal basis (several years), nonlinear temperature and humidity alterations across the station network at varying levels of urban development. 3. Based on past research on urban climate, one would expect to see in areas of the urban fringe, rapid changes in temperature (increases at night particularly), humidity (decreases in areas from agriculture to urban; increases from desert to urban), and wind speed (increases due to urban heating). 4. Changes of the surface climate on the urban fringe are expected to be altered as a function of various energy, moisture, and momentum control parameters, such as albedo, surface moisture, aerodynamic surface roughness, and thermal admittance. These parameters relate directly to population and land-use change (Lougeay et al. 1996).

The goal of this research project was to evaluate how wildlife populations responded to the gradient of urbanization. We deployed 50 wildlife cameras across the gradient of urbanization from downtown Phoenix to nearby wildland areas from January 2019 to August 2020. We documented a suite of wildlife species, from small mammals and birds to large mammals. Data present whether a species was detected at a site during this time period.

The goal of this research project was to evaluate how wildlife populations responded to the gradient of urbanization, water, and vegetation. We deployed 43 wildlife cameras across the gradient of urbanization January 2021 to January 2022. We documented a suite of wildlife species, from small mammals and birds to large mammals. Data present whether a species was detected at a site during this time period.

Urban growth around Phoenix over the last 30 years has produced numerous isolated "islands" of remnant desert habitat. Each of these remnants has its own unique vertebrate community, determined by the fauna present prior to isolation, area of remaining habitat, vegetation characteristics, time since isolation, and distance to other islands or source populations. These factors can be used as predictors of how future growth will affect potential desert preserves.

The Phoenix Area Social Survey (PASS) parallels the Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (formerly, Survey 200) as a long-term monitoring program of the CAP LTER. Every five years, the PASS research team surveys households in selected neighborhoods in the metropolitan Phoenix area to better understand perceptions, values, and behaviors of several key environmental issues, including water conservation, urban growth, air pollution, land conservation, biodiversity and urban climate change, as well as perceptions about their neighborhoods. The survey was piloted in 2001-2002 in eight neighborhoods in Phoenix with 302 respondents, and grew to over 40 neighborhoods and 800 households in 2005. Bird survey locations were established in each of the PASS neighborhoods, colocated as much as possible with the corresponding ESCA survey location in the neighborhood. Bird surveys were conducted biannualy (spring, winter) approximately the year of and the year after each PASS. In a given season, each bird survey location is visited independently by three birders who count all birds seen or heard within a 15-minute window.

Waterways are often the focus of restoration efforts in urban areas. In arid regions, passive discharge of urban water sources may stimulate the recovery or growth of wetland and riparian features in dewatered or ephemeral aquatic systems. In the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (GPMA), sections of the Salt and Gila Rivers have been the targets of active restoration through seeding, planting, and irrigation. At the same time, revegetation has occurred in some sections of the rivers in response to runoff from urban water sources (e.g., storm drains). This dataset catalogs the results of herpetological surveys conducted at several locations along the Salt and Gila Rivers in and around the GPMA beginning in March 2012. Survey locations include riparian areas in urban and non-urban locations that have been (actively) restored or have revegetated in response to urban runoff, and that feature ephemeral or perennial sources of water. This is a long-term monitoring effort of the CAP LTER with on-going data collection.

Waterways are often the focus of restoration efforts in urban areas. In arid regions, passive discharge of urban water sources may stimulate the recovery or growth of wetland and riparian features in dewatered or ephemeral aquatic systems. In the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (GPMA), sections of the Salt and Gila Rivers have been the targets of active restoration through seeding, planting, and irrigation. At the same time, revegetation has occurred in some sections of the rivers in response to runoff from urban water sources (e.g., storm drains). This dataset catalogs the results of bird surveys conducted at several locations along the Salt River in and around the GPMA beginning in March 2013. Monitoring locations focus on reaches of the river with different characteristics, including: (1) urbanized with perennial water and actively restored (n=2 reaches), (2) urbanized with perennial water and passively restored (n=2 reaches), (3) urbanized with ephemeral water but not restored (n=2 reaches), and (4) non-urban reference areas with perennial water (n=1 reach). This program expands on bird monitoring that the CAP LTER conducts at other locations in and around the GPMA, and complements herpetological surveys that are performed at these locations along the Salt River where the bird surveys are performed. This is a long-term monitoring effort of the CAP LTER with on-going data collection.

Waterways are often the focus of restoration efforts in urban areas. In arid regions, passive discharge of urban water sources may stimulate the recovery or growth of wetland and riparian features in dewatered or ephemeral aquatic systems. In the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (GPMA), sections of the Salt and Gila Rivers have been the targets of active restoration through seeding, planting, and irrigation. At the same time, revegetation has occurred in some sections of the rivers in response to runoff from urban water sources (e.g., storm drains). This dataset catalogs the results of bird surveys conducted at several locations along the Salt River in and around the GPMA from March 2012 through October 2013. Survey locations include riparian areas in urban and non-urban locations that have been (actively) restored or have revegetated in response to urban runoff, and that feature ephemeral or perennial sources of water.

Launched in 2006 with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and leveraged by the CAP LTER, the Carbon and Nitrogen deposition (CNdep) project sought to answer the fundamental question of whether elemental cycles in urban ecosystems are qualitatively different from those in non-urban ecosystems. Ecosystem scientists, atmospheric chemists, and biogeochemists tested the hypothesis that distinct biogeochemical pathways result from elevated inorganic nitrogen and organic carbon deposition from the atmosphere to the land. To test the hypothesis, scientists examined the responsiveness of Sonoran desert ecosystems to nutrient enrichment by capitalizing on a gradient of atmospheric deposition in and around the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Fifteen desert study sites were established, with five locations each west and east of the urban core, and in the urban core in desert preserves. In addition to the gradient of atmospheric deposition in and around the urban core, select study plots at each of the fifteen desert locations receive amendments of nitrogen, phosphorus, or nitrogen + phosphorus fertilizer. Measured variables include soil properties, perennial and annual plant growth, and atmospheric deposition of nitrogen. At the close of the initial grant period, the CAP LTER assumed responsibility for the project, renamed the Desert Fertilization Experiment, which provides a remarkable platform to study the long-term effects of nutrient enrichment on ecosystem properties.

This data set features soil pH collected in study plots at project study sites during 2010 and 2011. These data include a snapshot from two years of the long-term experiment. As such, this particular set of data is published independently of on-going measurements at the study locations. Investigators interested in other Desert Fertilization Experiment data should search the data repository for 'desert fertilization experiment'.