AZ · Maricopa County · 1,608,139 (2020) · 5th-largest US city · state capital
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix fills the Salt River valley in central Arizona, in the northern reach of the Sonoran Desert. It is the state capital, the largest city in Arizona and the fifth-largest in the United States.
- State
- Arizona
- County
- Maricopa County
- Population (2020)
- 1,608,139
- Rank
- 5th in the US
- Coordinates
- 33.45°N, 112.07°W
- Time zone
- Mountain
- Metro area
- about 4.8 million
- State capital
- Yes – capital of Arizona
Where Phoenix is
Phoenix is at 33.45°N, 112.07°W in Maricopa County, of which it is the county seat. The city spreads over 517 square miles of the flat Salt River valley at about 1,090 feet above sea level, ringed by low desert ranges: South Mountain to the south, the Phoenix Mountains and Camelback Mountain within the city, and the White Tank and Superstition mountains further out. Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale and Glendale adjoin it, forming a continuous urban area often called the Valley of the Sun. Tucson is 115 miles southeast and the Mexican border about 180 miles south.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 1,608,139 residents, making Phoenix the 5th-largest city in the US and the largest state capital by a wide margin. It passed Philadelphia between the 2010 and 2020 counts and added about 163,000 people in that decade, more than any other city except New York, Houston and San Antonio. The Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler metropolitan area, which is Maricopa and Pinal counties, has about 4.8 million people, the tenth-largest metro in the country and home to more than two-thirds of all Arizonans.
Geography
- Sonoran Desert — Phoenix sits inside the Sonoran Desert, the hottest of the North American deserts; summer highs above 110°F are routine.
- Salt River — flows west through the city but is normally dry below the Granite Reef diversion dam, its water carried instead by the Arizona Canal and other canals that follow ancient Hohokam alignments.
- Gila River — the Salt joins the Gila southwest of the city; the Gila continues west to the Colorado at Yuma.
- Mountains — South Mountain Park (2,690 ft), Camelback (2,704 ft) and Piestewa Peak (2,610 ft) rise inside the city limits; the Mogollon Rim and the Colorado Plateau begin 90 miles north.
Nearest large cities
Mesa is part of the same urban area; Tucson is under two hours away on Interstate 10. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown Phoenix.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa | AZ | 20 | E |
| Tucson | AZ | 115 | SE |
| Las Vegas | NV | 300 | NW |
| San Diego | CA | 355 | W |
| Albuquerque | NM | 420 | NE |
Phoenix as state capital
Phoenix has been the capital of Arizona since 1889, when the territorial legislature moved from Prescott; it stayed the capital at statehood in 1912. The Capitol, completed in 1901, stands at the west end of downtown. Phoenix is one of only a handful of state capitals that are also their state's largest city, and by population it is the largest capital in the country. See the Phoenix capital page for the history and the comparison with Tucson, the former territorial capital.
Related maps
- Arizona map — the state with its 15 counties.
- Phoenix, state capital — capital facts and history.
- US cities map.
- Sonoran Desert, Grand Canyon and Colorado River maps.
- Nearby cities: Mesa, Tucson, Las Vegas.
- Southwest region · Mountain Time Zone (no daylight saving in Arizona).