State
County
Land Area
108.1 sq mi
Density
1,384.0/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
2.71%
Growth Since 2010
27.26%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Surprise is a city located in Arizona. With a 2020 population of 149,558, it is the 10th largest city in Arizona and the 177th largest city in the United States. Surprise is currently growing at a rate of 2.71% annually and its population has increased by 27.26% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 117,517 in 2010. Surprise reached it's highest population of 149,558 in 2021. Spanning over 108 miles, Surprise has a population density of 1,384 people per square mile.
The average household income in Surprise is $82,212 with a poverty rate of 7.34%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $1,349 per month, and the median house value is $239,500. The median age in Surprise is 41.4 years, 40.8 years for males, and 42.1 years for females. For every 100 females there are 93.3 males.
Surprise is located in Maricopa County, Arizona about 30 miles northwest of Phoenix and part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Metro Phoenix has an estimated population of 4.7 million and Surprise is the 9th largest city in the area. Surprise is the second-fastest growing municipality in the metro area after Gilbert and was the 6th fastest growing city or town in the U.S. in the 1990s.
Just under 9% of the population of Surprise is foreign-born. Surprise is considered a fairly old city with an average age among residents of 46 years compared to 38 for the United States (https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/us-median-age-hits-all-time-high-38-record-86248-are-100-or-older) as a whole.
In 2016, Surprise was named one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. In 2019, the state was also ranked as the 3rd fastest growing in part due to shrinking wages and affordability in the area. Maricopa County has led Arizona's population growth, reporting eight straight years of population gains since 2011 (https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/04/18/census-maricopa-population-gains/) and adding 81,000 new residents among the 122,000 new people who moved to Arizona. While Surprise remains popular among retirees, it's also gaining attention from people in the labor force, especially those struggling to keep up with California's rising housing costs and stagnant wages.
Surprise, Arizona is a young city founded by Flora Statler in 1938. She named the city because she would be "surprised if the town ever amounted to much." The town was believed to have been founded by her husband, a real estate developer named Homer Ludden, but property records in 2010 showed Statler was the owner before she met Ludden.
In the early years, Surprise was nothing more than a gas station and affordable homes for agricultural workers but it has grown rapidly since. Surprise was incorporated in 1960 and became a popular destination for retirees beginning in the 1990s and 2000s. This led to the development of Sun City Grand, an age-restricted community which has grown from 10,000 residents to 75,000 residents in 2004.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Surprise was:
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White | 114,238 | 84.34% |
Black or African American | 8,728 | 6.44% |
Some Other Race | 4,157 | 3.07% |
Two or More Races | 3,935 | 2.91% |
Asian | 3,732 | 2.76% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 464 | 0.34% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 196 | 0.14% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 48,618 | 2.78 | 75.9 |
Married | 29,596 | 3.21 | 82.8 |
Non Family | 12,243 | 1.28 | 68.2 |
Female | 5,340 | 3.61 | 56.9 |
Male | 1,439 | 3.46 | 71.4 |
3.21
Average Family Size
2.78
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 2,146 | 2.31% |
9th to 12th Grade | 4,877 | 5.24% |
High School Graduate | 23,687 | 25.45% |
Some College | 26,570 | 28.54% |
Associates Degree | 9,221 | 9.91% |
Bachelors Degree | 17,491 | 18.79% |
Graduate Degree | 9,092 | 9.77% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
White | 69,349 | 65,726 | 21,073 |
Hispanic | 14,400 | 11,805 | 2,115 |
Black | 5,047 | 4,598 | 1,714 |
Asian | 2,745 | 2,408 | 1,222 |
Other Race | 2,524 | 1,985 | 140 |
Multiple Races | 1,561 | 1,506 | 473 |
Native American | 289 | 289 | 40 |
Islander | 135 | 135 | 17 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among native american people with a rate of 100.00%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among asian people with a rate of 44.52%.
$42,419
Average Earnings
$50,918
Average Male
$35,125
Average Female
86.41% of Surprise residents speak only English, while 13.59% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 8.50% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
White | 92,664 | 6,306 | 6.81% |
Hispanic | 26,373 | 2,466 | 9.35% |
Black | 8,669 | 831 | 9.59% |
Other | 4,135 | 434 | 10.50% |
Multiple | 3,933 | 252 | 6.41% |
Asian | 3,705 | 171 | 4.62% |
Native | 464 | 49 | 10.56% |
Islander | 196 | 12 | 6.12% |
7.34%
Overall Poverty Rate
6.52%
Male Poverty Rate
8.11%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Surprise is Native, with 10.56% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Surprise is Asian, with 4.62% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 1.17%. Among those working part-time, it was 10.14%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 10.99%.
57.4%
Overall Marriage Rate
60.0%
Male Marriage Rate
55.0%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 35-44.
Name | Veterans | % of Total |
---|---|---|
White | 10,656 | 12.29% |
Hispanic | 1,016 | 6.01% |
Black | 713 | 11.59% |
2 or More | 276 | 13.95% |
Asian | 159 | 5.09% |
Other | 151 | 4.77% |
Indian | 77 | 23.33% |
3.29%
Veteran Poverty Rate
28.34%
Veteran Disability Rate
56.3%
Labor Force Participation
52.3%
Employment Rate
5.8%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
91.52%
Native Born
8.48%
Foreign Born
2.84%
Non Citizen
5.64%
Naturalized
91.52% of Surprise residents were born in the United States, with 31.82% having been born in Arizona. 2.84% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 149,558 | 3,947 | 2.71% |
2020 | 145,611 | 3,947 | 2.79% |
2019 | 141,664 | 3,947 | 2.87% |
2018 | 137,717 | 2,936 | 2.18% |
2017 | 134,781 | 1,935 | 1.46% |
2016 | 132,846 | 2,510 | 1.93% |
2015 | 130,336 | 2,456 | 1.92% |
2014 | 127,880 | 2,845 | 2.28% |
2013 | 125,035 | 2,769 | 2.26% |
2012 | 122,266 | 2,649 | 2.21% |
2011 | 119,617 | 1,974 | 1.68% |
2010 | 117,643 | 86,795 | 14.32% |
2000 | 30,848 | 23,726 | 15.79% |
1990 | 7,122 | 3,399 | 6.70% |
1980 | 3,723 | 0.00% |