PHOENIX — For another year, it’s Maricopa incoming.
The United States Census Bureau released county population estimates and once again Maricopa County leads the country in people moving to the Valley of the Sun. The Census reports the county had a net gain of 56,831 residents in 2022 — a gain of 1.3% since the year before.
Maricopa County’s population is estimated at 4.55 million, making it the fourth-largest county in the country. The annual net gain is a combination of births and in-migrations minus deaths and out-migrations. Eighty-five percent of the gain came from people moving here from other counties. In fact, Maricopa ranked number one for net migration as well.
According to the Census, the list of counties with the biggest population gains since 2021 was led by Maricopa County with Harris County, Texas coming in second with an additional 46,000 people. Three of the top five gaining counties are located in Texas. Polk County, Florida, located just southwest of Orlando, rounded out the top five.
The biggest losers are all counties situated within the largest urban areas in the US. Los Angeles County lost almost 100,000 people. Cook County, Illinois lost almost 70,000. The remaining three counties are all in the New York metro area.
The real estate site Redfin.com tracks people looking to move from city to city. Their data on Phoenix shows the city with the most people searching for homes in Phoenix is Seattle. Los Angeles, Tucson, and San Francisco are all other large cities with people looking to move to Phoenix. However, people are also looking to migrate out. Redfin says Phoenicians looking to leave Phoenix are mostly searching for other areas in Arizona such as Prescott Valley, Flagstaff, and Show Low. Those wanting to leave the state are looking at Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee. Dallas and Miami are also on the list.
The Census Bureau also tracks county-to-county migration flows. Their most recent data from the American Community Survey five-year estimates show people moving into the Valley are coming from Southern California and Cook County. Apache County is the largest feeder for in-state movers. Those moving out of Maricopa County are mostly looking at other counties in the state, but Collin County in Texas is also a destination.
An interactive map of county population changes was put together by twitter analyst cinyc. You can view it here.
