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Apache Junction is a desert community at an elevation 2,070 feet above sea level located 35 miles directly east of Phoenix on Highway 60 (the Superstition Freeway). It is the easternmost community in the Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan area. Incorporated in 1978, the city currently encompasses approximately 36.5 square miles. It is home to the legendary Superstition Mountains and is the gateway to a wonderful outdoor recreational area.
With a hometown feel, Apache Junction continues to value and respect the natural environment, with lifestyles and activities everyone can enjoy.
The year-round population of Apache Junction was estimated at 41,104 in 2004. Each year the city welcomes over 35,000 seasonal residents, increasing the population of the city from mid-October to mid-April to over 76,000 residents. The area is fast becoming a popular destination for families, vacationers and business. Surrounded by every natural beauty the southwest can offer, Apache Junction is a growing city with an exciting historic past.
Having celebrated its 25th year of incorporation, Apache Junction has a place in Arizona history as the point of convergence for supplies and labor during the construction of the Roosevelt Dam, 30 miles east on the historic Apache Trail.
Apache Junction, with mining and transportation roots in the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, has never had the traditional downtown amenities found in more established communities. The earliest residential and commercial development in Apache Junction occurred in the 1950s and 1960s along the Apache Trail and was centered around the Superstition Inn (the current Grand Hotel Triangle / Basha’s Plaza sites). This is the area that the city is actively working to develop as a 21st-century downtown for the community.
In the past ten years Apache Junction has been experiencing moderate residential growth with over 8,000 new homes constructed. The purchasers of these new homes are primarily young dual-income families with children. The cost of living index for Apache Junction is 73 (100 is the national average).
Close to it all, but far enough away from the hustle and bustle, Apache Junction still has the wide open spaces that people come west to find. With all the amenities found locally or very close by, the Apache Junction area is an inviting oasis in the stress-filled environment of today.
The Apache Junction Primary Market Area, extending from Mesa on the west to past Gold Canyon to the east, consists of approximately 150 square miles. This market area has a year-round population of over 140,000 residents. Gold Canyon, although part of the city’s market area, is in unincorporated Pinal County. This area generally includes the residential subdivisions of Superstition Mountain, Mountain Brook Village, Gold Canyon, Peralta Road, and Queen Valley.
| |
Apache |
Gold |
Queen |
| |
Junction |
Canyon |
Valley |
| Population |
41,104 |
6,029 |
820 |
| Median age |
44 years |
56 years |
65 years |
| Households |
17,923 |
2,785 |
417 |
| Median family income |
$40,516 |
$60,438 |
$44,213 |
| Source: U.S. Census, 2000
|
| |
1990 |
2000 |
2004 |
| Apache Junction |
18,092 |
31,814 |
33,725 |
| Pinal County |
116,397 |
179,727 |
218,285 |
| State of Arizona |
3,665,228 |
5,130,632 |
5,832,150 |
Sources: Arizona Department of Economic Security and U.S. Census Bureau.
|
| |
| |
1990 |
2000 |
2004 |
| Civilian labor force |
7,350 |
11,012 |
12,591 |
| Unemployed |
342 |
308 |
499 |
| Unemployment rate |
4.7% |
2.8% |
4.0% |
Source: Arizona Department of Economic Security
|
|
| |
1990 |
2000 |
2004 |
| New building permits |
292 |
985 |
735 |
| Taxable sales |
$151,611,900 |
$348,320,500 |
$433,217,500 |
| Net assessed valuation |
$56,979,353 |
$83,019,687 |
$132,084,053 |
Sources: Arizona State University, Arizona Department of Revenue,
Arizona Tax Research Foundation |
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