Phoenix Map
Phoenix fills a broad desert basin in the Salt River valley and, with about 1.67 million people in 2024, is by a wide margin the most populous state capital in the country.
Where is Phoenix?
Phoenix sits in south-central Arizona, in a low basin of the Sonoran Desert ringed by small, dry ranges — the White Tank Mountains west, the McDowells northeast, South Mountain on the city's own southern edge. It is roughly 110 miles northwest of Tucson, about 300 miles southeast of Las Vegas, and some 465 road miles west of Albuquerque. Arizona keeps Mountain Time all year without moving its clocks, so for the summer half of the year Phoenix reads the same hour as Los Angeles.
Phoenix at a glance
| State | Arizona |
| County | Maricopa County |
| Population | 1,673,164 (2024 Census estimate) |
| Rank among US cities | No. 5 of the 100 largest |
| Time zone | Mountain Time |
| Region | West (Mountain division) |
No. 5 on the 2024 list is a margin of 716,961 people: that is how far Phoenix trails Houston, while Philadelphia is 99,248 further back. It leads the seven Arizona entries, ahead of Tucson, Mesa and Gilbert. One city government therefore accounts for about 22% of Arizona's 7.58 million people. It holds about 36% of Maricopa County's 4,673,096 residents.
Phoenix in Arizona
Arizona's population is concentrated to an unusual degree in a single county: Maricopa County contains Phoenix and its neighbors Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale and Scottsdale, which is why the Arizona county map looks so lopsided with only 15 counties in total. Tucson, in Pima County, is the state's other metropolitan center. More on the state at the Arizona state page.
Water in a desert basin
The valley is farmable because the Salt and Gila rivers drain a huge mountain watershed to the east and north, and because canals have moved that water since long before statehood — modern canals in places follow prehistoric Hohokam alignments. Since the 1980s the Central Arizona Project aqueduct has added Colorado River water, lifted more than 2,000 feet and carried some 300 miles across the desert to Phoenix and on to Tucson. The city floor sits around 1,100 feet above sea level, low enough that summer highs run well above anywhere else of comparable size.
Cities near Phoenix
The valley's other big cities are Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale and Glendale, with Tucson two hours south. The Mountain division page covers the wider region.