2020 Census officially crowns Maricopa as Pinal’s largest city

It’s official: Maricopa has the largest population of any Pinal County city, according to U.S. Census information released Thursday by Central Arizona Governments, a regional planning organization.

A report by the group shows Maricopa with a population of 58,125, an increase of 14,643, or 33.7%, over the 2010 count.

Statistics in the report indicate Casa Grande is second in population with 53,658 residents. Queen Creek is the largest city lying at least partially within Pinal County with 59,519 residents, but just 9,300 of those live in Pinal County, with the rest in Maricopa County.

The population of Pinal County rose to 425,264, from 375,770, an increase of 49,494, or 13.2%, in the past decade.

CAG was founded in 1975 to provide effective regional planning services to Gila and Pinal counties, promote a “community of interest” and preserve the boundaries of the region. It is one of six regional planning districts, or Councils of Government around the state.

The organization includes the 17 incorporated cities in Pinal County as well as the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, San Carlos Apache Tribe and White Mountain Apache Tribe.