An American flag flies near new home construction at a housing development in Queen Creek.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
When the millennium began, Queen Creek was a tiny rural outpost of about 4,000 people on the edge of the Phoenix metro area. Visiting it was a hike, and once you were there, it hardly felt like you were in the Valley at all. Indeed, part of Queen Creek sits in Pinal County.
But my, how the times have changed. According to a new study by the personal finance site GOBankingRates, Queen Creek is now the fastest-growing boomtown in Arizona, with a 2023 population exceeding 66,000 residents. Several reports have shown that the town has grown even more since then.
To make that determination — to crown Queen Creek, so to speak — GOBankingRates looked at cities in every state with populations between 25,000 and 500,000 people. Using both 2015 and 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the site determined the cities in each state where populations and incomes are surging the most.
In the Grand Canyon State, Queen Creek claimed the top spot. Its population grew by an estimated 120% from 2015 to 2023. During that same time, its per capita income rose by more than 65% to just north of $50,000. The city also saw a 136% spike in the number of occupied housing units.
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While the study’s 2023 population estimate is on the conservative side, it’s clear that the town has been sharply growing ever since. The town also experienced a major boom from July 2023 to July 2024, according to another study. During that period, the population ballooned by 8% to about 83,000 residents.
Of the cities on GOBankingRates’ list, only Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Fulshear, Texas, grew at faster rates than Queen Creek. Fort Mill’s population jumped by 125%, while Fulshear, which is outside of Houston, grew at an astonishing rate of 736%.
As it has matured in the post-9/11 era, Queen Creek has also exerted an outsized influence on the state, becoming a hotbed for right-wing and alt-right political ideology and elected officials. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is running for the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination in 2026, represents the town and much of the East Valley in Congress. State Sen. Jake Hoffman, the leader of the far-right Freedom Caucus in the Arizona Legislature, is one of the loudest blowhards in Arizona politics who has almost singlehandedly managed to block many of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ nominees to run state agencies.
Hoffman was also indicted by a state grand jury for his role in a scheme to send fake electors to Washington, D.C., and steal the 2020 election for Donald Trump, though that indictment is now in limbo after a court ruled that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes didn’t show enough information to the grand jury. Trump also recently pardoned Hoffman and 10 others, though Hoffman faces no federal charges.
Another of the town’s former state lawmakers, Turning Point leader Austin Smith, pleaded guilty two weeks ago to attempted election fraud after he forged hundreds of signatures in an attempt to get on the ballot during a reelection campaign.