Two Phoenix West Valley cities fastest-growing in the U.S. in 2017
U.S. Census Bureau released its “2017 City/Town Population and Housing Unit Estimates” report last week, naming two West Valley cities—Phoenix and Buckeye—among the fastest-growing in the nation in 2017.
Phoenix experienced the second-biggest increase among U.S. cities last year, with 65,852 new residents added—almost 66 people per day.
Buckeye saw the fifth-fastest growth rate in the U.S. in 2017 among cities with more than 50,000 residents. More than 3,800 people moved to Buckeye, according to Census estimates—a 5.9 percent growth rate that brought the city’s total population to an estimated 68,453.
Buckeye’s growth is a continuation of the city’s population boom after posting the nation’s seventh-fastest growth rate in 2016. The city has grown more than tenfold since 2000 when Buckeye had fewer than 6,000 residents.
The latest rankings come just months after the Census Bureau announced that Maricopa County had the largest population growth among the nation’s counties in 2017.
Experts credit the continued strong population growth to several factors, primarily job opportunities in the West Valley and, for Buckeye, affordable housing.
Phoenix’s growth increased the city’s population to just under 1.63 million, maintaining the city’s ranking as the fifth-largest in the U.S. following New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.
View the full U.S. Census Bureau report here.
Two Phoenix West Valley cities fastest growing