Maricopa County continues to grow at a fast rate, according to new information released from the U.S. Census Bureau today.
The information released shows Maricopa County was the fastest growing county in the U.S. The data used populations as of July 1, 2017, and showed an increase of 74,000 people for Maricopa County.
The next closest county was Clark County in Nevada, with an increase of 47,355 people.
Maricopa County stayed the fourth largest county in the country based on population, with 4,307,033 people.
Many cities typically celebrate the rise in the census bureau ranks, as a rise in status. More people typically means more tax revenue for cities in the form of sales taxes and property taxes.
But growth also comes with challenges.
Here in the Valley, one of those challenges is the traffic.
While cities and the state are already involved in a myriad of construction projects to widen freeways and city roads, the ADOT crash facts report does show an increase in the number of crashes involving injuries, and wrong way driving accidents.
Another challenge facing desert cities; water.
Salt River Project, which is one of the largest providers of power and water in the valley, tells ABC15 they have been making deals with cities to provide more water by tapping into underground wells.
In Goodyear, which has been one of the fastest growing cities in Arizona, city spokeswoman Sherine Zaya said the city just entered into a historic agreement with SRP to get more water into their community.
"The water is the city's share of the Colorado River. We now have water to provide for future development," said Zaya.
SRP officials said despite the need for more water, technology and water conservation efforts have decreased the amount of water they are now supplying to their customers. They are, however, generating more power, to more people.
Lok and Christine Luong who moved to Goodyear from Michigan seven years ago said the biggest draw for them was getting out of the brutal winters, and coming to the land of sunshine. In the past seven years, the couple said they had noticed a lot of growth in Goodyear.
"Yes, there are so many more restaurants, more shopping centers, it's very nice," said Christine Luong.
Phoenix City officials said they have been using tax revenue generated by the community to expand the light rail system and improve roads.
In Goodyear, city officials said they are using the revenue to build a 30-acre recreation area for residents to enjoy.
The City of Phoenix is now the fourth largest city in the nation when it comes to population, inching past Philadelphia for that spot last year.
For more information on the U.S. Census Bureau report, click HERE.
