Pima County contains parts of the Tohono O'odham Nation, as well as all of the San Xavier Indian Reservation, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ironwood Forest National Monument and Saguaro National Park.
The vast majority of the county population lies in and around the city of Tucson (2005 city population: 529,770), filling much of the eastern part of the county with urban development. Tucson, Arizona's second largest city, is a major commercial and academic center. Other urban areas include the Tucson suburbs of Oro Valley (population 39,400), Marana (population 26,725), Sahuarita (population 13,990), and South Tucson (population 5,630), a large ring of unincorporated urban development, and the growing satellite town Green Valley. The rest of the county is sparsely populated; the largest towns are Sells, the capital of the Tohono O'odham Nation, and Ajo in the far western region of the county.
Pima County, one of the four original counties in Arizona, was created by the Territorial Legislature on November 9th 1864 when land acquired by the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853 became the Arizona Territory of the United States.
The original county included all of southern Arizona from the western Colorado River to the Gila River in the north to the Mexican international border in the south and east to the New Mexico state line. Soon thereafter, the counties of Cochise, Graham and Santa Cruz were carved from the original Pima County.
As of the census of 2000, there were 843,746 people, 332,350 households, and 212,039 families residing in the county. The population density was 92 people per square mile. There were 366,737 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 75.07% White, 3.03% Black or African American, 3.22% Native American, 2.04% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 13.30% from other races, and 3.21% from two or more races. 29.34% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.80% reported speaking Spanish at home.
There were 332,350 households out of which 29.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.70% were married couples living together, 11.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.20% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.06.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,758, and the median income for a family was $44,446. Males had a median income of $32,156 versus $24,959 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,785. About 10.50% of families and 14.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.40% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.
Towns and Cities in Pima County
Marana
Oro Valley
Sahuarita
South Tucson
Tucson
Adjacent Counties
Yuma County, Arizona - west
Maricopa County, Arizona - north
Pinal County, Arizona - north
Graham County, Arizona - northeast
Cochise County, Arizona - east
Santa Cruz County, Arizona - southeast
Altar, Sonora, Mexico - south
Caborca, Sonora, Mexico - south
Plutarco Elías Calles, Sonora, Mexico - south
Sáric, Sonora, Mexico - south
