Nearly 844,000 residents now call Pima County home. Tucson's population, meanwhile, swelled by 20 percent in the decade leading up to 2000. The city's population of nearly 487,000 is roughly equivalent to Arizona's population in 1940. Arizona's total population of 5.13 million residents in 2000 nearly doubled the tally of 20 years ago, when 2.71 million residents were counted. America is moving to the Sun Belt.
People like to retire to the Sun Belt.
And we are attractive to people. But now, Hispanics and Asians make up more of the population than at any time in Arizona's modern history. Raj K. Kohli, president of the Pan Asian Alliance, attributed the Asian growth rate to high-tech jobs available in Tucson. We are strengthening the fabric of this community and America. The growth in Arizona's Hispanic and Asian populations should bring considerable political changes over the next few years, said John Garcia, political science professor at the University of Arizona.