Cities in Arizona by unemployed people

Phoenix, AZ had the highest unemployed people of 32 cities in 2015, at 40,159. Florence, AZ had the lowest, at 246. The median was 1,573. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest40,159Phoenix, AZ
Lowest246Florence, AZ
Median1,57332 cities

All cities, 2015

Phoenix, AZ: 40,159 personsPhoenix, AZ40,159Tucson, AZ: 14,307 personsTucson, AZ14,307Mesa, AZ: 11,554 personsMesa, AZ11,554San Luis, AZ: 9,006 personsSan Luis, AZ9,006Chandler, AZ: 6,328 personsChandler, AZ6,328Glendale, AZ: 6,190 personsGlendale, AZ6,190Yuma, AZ: 5,787 personsYuma, AZ5,787Scottsdale, AZ: 5,411 personsScottsdale, AZ5,411Gilbert, AZ: 5,351 personsGilbert, AZ5,351Tempe, AZ: 4,827 personsTempe, AZ4,827Peoria, AZ: 4,018 personsPeoria, AZ4,018Surprise, AZ: 2,875 personsSurprise, AZ2,875Avondale, AZ: 2,231 personsAvondale, AZ2,231Goodyear, AZ: 1,919 personsGoodyear, AZ1,919Flagstaff, AZ: 1,799 personsFlagstaff, AZ1,799Lake Havasu City, AZ: 1,681 personsLake Havasu City, AZ1,681Buckeye, AZ: 1,465 personsBuckeye, AZ1,465Casa Grande, AZ: 1,385 personsCasa Grande, AZ1,385Maricopa, AZ: 1,260 personsMaricopa, AZ1,260Bullhead City, AZ: 1,183 personsBullhead City, AZ1,183Apache Junction, AZ: 1,136 personsApache Junction, AZ1,136Sierra Vista, AZ: 1,131 personsSierra Vista, AZ1,131Prescott, AZ: 1,049 personsPrescott, AZ1,049Kingman, AZ: 990 personsKingman, AZ990Prescott Valley, AZ: 980 personsPrescott Valley, AZ980Oro Valley, AZ: 923 personsOro Valley, AZ923El Mirage, AZ: 887 personsEl Mirage, AZ887Marana, AZ: 872 personsMarana, AZ872Queen Creek, AZ: 650 personsQueen Creek, AZ650Sahuarita, AZ: 562 personsSahuarita, AZ562Fountain Hills, AZ: 559 personsFountain Hills, AZ559Florence, AZ: 246 personsFlorence, AZ246Phoenix, AZ: 40,159 personsPhoenix, AZ40,159Tucson, AZ: 14,307 personsTucson, AZ14,307Mesa, AZ: 11,554 personsMesa, AZ11,554San Luis, AZ: 9,006 personsSan Luis, AZ9,006Chandler, AZ: 6,328 personsChandler, AZ6,328Glendale, AZ: 6,190 personsGlendale, AZ6,190Yuma, AZ: 5,787 personsYuma, AZ5,787Scottsdale, AZ: 5,411 personsScottsdale, AZ5,411Gilbert, AZ: 5,351 personsGilbert, AZ5,351Tempe, AZ: 4,827 personsTempe, AZ4,827Peoria, AZ: 4,018 personsPeoria, AZ4,018Surprise, AZ: 2,875 personsSurprise, AZ2,875Avondale, AZ: 2,231 personsAvondale, AZ2,231Goodyear, AZ: 1,919 personsGoodyear, AZ1,919Flagstaff, AZ: 1,799 personsFlagstaff, AZ1,799Lake Havasu City, AZ: 1,681 personsLake Havasu City, AZ1,681Buckeye, AZ: 1,465 personsBuckeye, AZ1,465Casa Grande, AZ: 1,385 personsCasa Grande, AZ1,385Maricopa, AZ: 1,260 personsMaricopa, AZ1,260Bullhead City, AZ: 1,183 personsBullhead City, AZ1,183Apache Junction, AZ: 1,136 personsApache Junction, AZ1,136Sierra Vista, AZ: 1,131 personsSierra Vista, AZ1,131Prescott, AZ: 1,049 personsPrescott, AZ1,049Kingman, AZ: 990 personsKingman, AZ990Prescott Valley, AZ: 980 personsPrescott Valley, AZ980Oro Valley, AZ: 923 personsOro Valley, AZ923El Mirage, AZ: 887 personsEl Mirage, AZ887Marana, AZ: 872 personsMarana, AZ872Queen Creek, AZ: 650 personsQueen Creek, AZ650Sahuarita, AZ: 562 personsSahuarita, AZ562Fountain Hills, AZ: 559 personsFountain Hills, AZ559Florence, AZ: 246 personsFlorence, AZ246
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
persons
Change on 2014
1Phoenix, AZ40,159-9.9%
2Tucson, AZ14,307-9.6%
3Mesa, AZ11,554-8.9%
4San Luis, AZ9,006-1.5%
5Chandler, AZ6,328-8.7%
6Glendale, AZ6,190-10.9%
7Yuma, AZ5,787-7%
8Scottsdale, AZ5,411-5.9%
9Gilbert, AZ5,351-7.6%
10Tempe, AZ4,827-8.3%
11Peoria, AZ4,018-9.1%
12Surprise, AZ2,875-10%
13Avondale, AZ2,231-10.6%
14Goodyear, AZ1,919-5.1%
15Flagstaff, AZ1,799-9.3%
16Lake Havasu City, AZ1,681-14.8%
17Buckeye, AZ1,465-11.5%
18Casa Grande, AZ1,385-10.9%
19Maricopa, AZ1,260-9.9%
20Bullhead City, AZ1,183-11.9%
21Apache Junction, AZ1,136-1.8%
22Sierra Vista, AZ1,131-13.5%
23Prescott, AZ1,049-7.5%
24Kingman, AZ990+3.7%
25Prescott Valley, AZ980-11.3%
26Oro Valley, AZ923-4.1%
27El Mirage, AZ887-12.9%
28Marana, AZ872-7.4%
29Queen Creek, AZ650-2%
30Sahuarita, AZ562-10.2%
31Fountain Hills, AZ559-8.7%
32Florence, AZ246-9.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Arizona by unemployed people, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Arizona by unemployed people, 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/arizona-cities?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Arizona by unemployed people, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/arizona-cities?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Arizona by unemployed people, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/arizona-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_arizona_by_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Arizona by unemployed people, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/arizona-cities?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Arizona by unemployed people, 2015
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/arizona-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/arizona-cities?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Phoenix, AZ, with 40,159 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Florence, AZ, with 246 in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Arizona: more rankings