Maricopa County, Arizona: Cities, County Government and Key 2026 Dates

Maricopa County is a 9,224-square-mile county in central Arizona with Phoenix, the state capital, as its county seat (Maricopa County Quick Facts).

The county's Quick Facts page says Maricopa covers more ground than four U.S. states, and that most of it is not private land: 53% is federal, 29% private and 13% state, with nearly 5% tribal land belonging to the Fort McDowell Yavapai, Gila River, Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Tohono O'odham communities (Maricopa County Quick Facts). The Maricopa regional park system holds more than 120,000 acres of open space.

Maricopa County was established on February 14, 1871, more than 40 years before Arizona statehood, and its boundaries were drawn in 1881 and have not moved since. The county is named for the Maricopa tribes, and its early economy rested on what the county calls Arizona's five C's: cattle, citrus, climate, copper and cotton (Maricopa County Quick Facts).

County government works from 301 West Jefferson Street in downtown Phoenix, and the main line is 602-506-3011 (Maricopa County). More than 13,000 Maricopa County employees work in public safety, public health, flood control, education, parks and libraries, and the same page says the Board of Supervisors and the other elected officers write a new strategic plan every five years.

Maricopa County's Quick Facts page counts 24 cities and towns plus several unincorporated communities, (Maricopa County Quick Facts), while its Cities and Towns directory lists 27 place names from Apache Junction to Youngtown (Maricopa County Cities and Towns).

The directory names Apache Junction, Avondale, Buckeye, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Fountain Hills, Gila Bend, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Guadalupe, Litchfield Park, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Wickenburg and Youngtown (Maricopa County Cities and Towns). The two lists do not match: the directory also includes Sun City and Sun City West, which another Maricopa County page places among the unincorporated census designated places, so the directory is a list of communities, not a count of municipal governments.

That unincorporated list is long. The county's home improvement program page names Aguila, Anthem, Arlington, Circle City, Laveen, Morristown, New River, Rio Verde, Sun City, Sun City West, Sun Lakes, Tonopah, Wittmann, Desert Hills and Rainbow Valley among the unincorporated places it serves (Maricopa County Home Improvement Programs). In those places the county is the local government: the Maricopa County Planning and Development Department handles land use planning, building permit review and inspection, and code compliance for unincorporated Maricopa County, and answers questions at 602-506-3301 (Maricopa County Planning and Development).

Digital Towns covers Maricopa County through its Surprise town guide, which has sections on Surprise communities and on desert living in the northwest Valley. The communities guide covers Surprise neighborhoods such as Marley Park and Sun City Grand, and the desert living guide covers extreme heat, monsoon season, dust storms, summer electric bills, xeriscape conversion and scorpions. A Surprise household deals with the city for city services and with Maricopa County for property taxes, voting and the other county offices on this page.

Maricopa County had 4,559,748 residents in the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate (U.S. Census Bureau, table B01003).

Over the same 2020 to 2024 survey window, half of Maricopa households took in more than $89,300 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, table B19013), and half of owner-occupied Maricopa homes were valued above $452,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, table B25077).

The county's own pages lag the survey. Quick Facts still gives a 2022 population of 4.5 million and calls Maricopa the nation's 4th largest county and its fastest growing, with more than 56,000 people added between July 2021 and 2022 (Maricopa County Quick Facts). For anything that needs a current Maricopa headcount, the ACS 2020-2024 table with its number is the citation to use.

Maricopa County is governed by five elected district supervisors, who set the agenda, approve the budget for every department and elected office, and appoint a county manager (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors).

The Board of Supervisors lists Kate Brophy McGee as Chair for District 3 and Debbie Lesko as Vice Chair for District 4, with Mark Stewart for District 1, Thomas Galvin for District 2 and Steve Gallardo for District 5 (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors). A Find My District tool on the same page matches an address to its supervisor.

Jen Pokorski is the Maricopa County Manager, the chief administrator who oversees more than 40 appointed departments in carrying out the Board's direction (Maricopa County Manager). Several other Maricopa officials are elected on their own and run their own offices and staff (Maricopa County), among them the Assessor, the Treasurer and the Recorder described below.

The general Maricopa County line, 602-506-3011, reaches the offices at 301 West Jefferson Street in Phoenix (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Maricopa County website.

In Maricopa County the Treasurer collects property taxes, the Assessor sets values and exemptions, and the Recorder and the Elections Department run voter registration and elections.

Arizona splits the Maricopa property tax year in two. The Treasurer's 2026 calendar shows first-half taxes due October 1 and delinquent after 5 pm on November 2, 2026, and lists December 31 as the final day to pay the full 2026 bill without interest for taxes over $100 (Maricopa County Treasurer). The Treasurer collects for state, county, city and town, school, community college and special districts, more than 1,800 taxing districts in all (Maricopa County Treasurer).

For the November 3, 2026 General Election, run by Maricopa County Elections (Maricopa County Elections), early ballots went out on October 7 to voters on the Active Early Voting List and to those who asked for a one-time ballot by mail. October 27 is the last recommended day to mail a ballot back, postmarks do not count, and every ballot must reach the county by 7:00 p.m. Arizona Time on Election Day (Maricopa County Recorder). Voters whose signature is questioned have until 5:00 p.m. on November 8, 2026 to verify it.

Maricopa early voters have a new ID Verify option in 2026: showing a valid ID at a Vote Center gets the ballot envelope stamped and skips signature verification (Maricopa County Recorder).

The Maricopa County Recorder describes ID Verify as a way to get a ballot to tabulation faster: a voter checks in at a Vote Center, shows an ID such as an Arizona driver license, and the envelope is marked ID Verified. On Election Day a voter can do the same and tabulate the ballot on site (Maricopa County Recorder). Voters can track a Maricopa ballot by texting JOIN to 628-683.

Property owners have a second change to read. On September 21, 2026 the Maricopa County Assessor posted a summary of key legislative changes from the 2026 session, noting new laws that touch exemptions for veterans and individuals with disabilities and fraud prevention; Assessor Eddie Cook sponsored or supported several of them (Maricopa County Assessor). Owners with a veteran or disability exemption can find the details in that Assessor notice.

Maricopa County Emergency Management names wildfires, dust storms, extreme heat, flooding and monsoon storms as the county's most common natural hazards (Maricopa County Emergency Management).

Heat is the constant one: the county says Maricopa frequently exceeds 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer months (Maricopa County Most Common Natural Hazards). Flooding is a real threat even in a desert county. Three kinds of storms flood Maricopa County, tropical storm remnants, winter rains and summer monsoons, and the monsoon page warns that the summer rains send flash floods down usually dry washes, that six inches of water can knock a person down and two feet can float a car (Maricopa County Monsoon). Many Maricopa parks and recreation areas also work as flood basins or channels, and the county warns they are dangerous to play in while doing that flood control job (Maricopa County Monsoon).

On Digital Towns, the Surprise desert living guide takes these Maricopa hazards to the household level, with separate guides on extreme heat preparedness, the monsoon season, dust storm safety and closing a house for the summer.