May 05, 2006

City has influx of young families

MARICOPA - It's one step closer to being official - Maricopa could be the fastest growing city in the United States.

U.S. Special Census figures released Tuesday show the city has tripled in size since the last official count in March 2004. As of December 2005, Maricopa had 15,934 residents.

"In a nutshell, we have grown at 5.4 percent a month over the past 22 months," said City Management Assistant Paul Jepson. "We had 4,996 residents in March 2004. ... Any way you slice it, we're growing and growing fast."

While the numbers are high, the city had anticipated a count closer to 20,000. Jepson, who had partially based his projections on building permits issued, said the discrepancy could have been the result of the lag time between building permits being issued and completion of homes, as well as a number of investment homes in the area.

"And then there's the human factor," Jepson added. "While every effort was made to see that all homes in the city of Maricopa were included, you will always have oversights and residents who, by chance or by choice, were not included."

Still, the increased numbers mean the city should receive an additional $14,019,900 in state-shared revenues over the next five years, as those allocations are based on population figures.

"It is to the advantage of the citizens of Maricopa to have the most current population figures available," Jepson said. "Accurate population data aids in planning for schools, transportation and city resources. The additional revenues will be used to fund the everyday services required by citizens of a community experiencing a growth rate of 5.4 percent a month."

That growth seems to be coming in the form of young families and professionals. Census figures show that 25 percent of all residents are between the ages of 25 and 34, with another 16 percent between the ages of 35 to 44. Adults living alone occupy 14.2 percent of Maricopa's homes, with only 1.3 percent of them over 65 years of age.

"These figures are very interesting," Jepson said. "We've got a very young group of people. Roughly 40 percent of the population is between the ages of 25 and 44."

More than three-quarters of Maricopa's population reported living in a "family household," with 43 percent having children living in the home.

"Significantly, 31.7 percent of all residents are 19 years old or younger," Jepson added. "Amazingly, 12 percent of Maricopa's total population is under (the age) of five!"

According to Jepson, the growth rate translates to about 800 people a month moving to Maricopa.

"I'd guess the current population is about 20,000 to 21,000," he said. "Based on that, by January 2007, we should have 25,000 to 30,000 residents. By January 2008, well, that's where I get out of the prediction business. All I can say is, 'a bunch.'"

©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2006