The city of Goodyear is the sixth fastest-growing city in the United States, according to rankings released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.
The Census Bureau ranked the top 15 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. with San Marcos, Texas coming in as No. 1. The town of Gilbert, which came in at No. 12, was the only other municipality in Arizona to make the list. Many of the other ranked cities were in Texas and throughout the West.
The ranking comes just weeks after the Boulder, Colorado-based National Research Center completed the Goodyear Citizen Satisfaction Survey in which the city received numerous high marks. Among the high grades Goodyear received from residents include: being considered a good place to live (95 percent approval); fire and police departments were near or above 90 percent; and feeling safe in neighborhoods was at a whopping 97 percent.
Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord said she believes that the ranking strengthens the validity of the citizen satisfaction survey, and that Goodyear will continue to be a fast-growing city.
“The ranking goes to show you that Goodyear is a not only a good place to live, work and play, but that the city continues to attract people of all ages,” Mayor Lord said. “We not only have a highly-educated workforce [20 percent have bachelor degrees] and one of the highest average incomes in the state [$73,000], but also a wide-array of job opportunities and housing.”
Goodyear’s population, which currently is 73,832, soared 245 percent between 2000 to 2010, according to the American Community Survey year estimates.
“If you move to Goodyear, it’s by choice,” Mayor Lord added. “People move here because they want to live here and retire here.”
To view the entire list of fastest-growing cities, go to: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/census-bureau-fastest-growing-cities-2012-13-23829449.
