Youngtown is a town in

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,056, up from 6,156 in 2010. It is part of the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...

History

In 1954, two developers bought of

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bo ...

and built the United States' first

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

dedicated exclusively to

retirees A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

. Designed by Ben Schleifer, the community was ironically named Youngtown.Youngtown timeline
/ref> In 1996, the town, citing its age restrictions, denied extending the stay of a 16-year-old child to live in the community. In response,

Arizona Attorney General The Arizona Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorne ...

Grant Woods investigated and determined that the age ordinance was unenforceable. In response, Youngtown repealed the age restrictions in 1999.

Geography

Youngtown is located at (33.5939281 -112.3029362), on the east bank of the

Agua Fria River The Agua Fria River (Spanish for "cold water") is a long intermittent stream which flows generally south from east-northeast of Prescott in the U.S. state of Arizona. Prescott draws much of its municipal water supply from the upper Agua Fria w ...

, just south of

US 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as Pacific Avenue, in the ...

. It is bordered on the west by El Mirage, on the south by Glendale, and on the east by the much larger retirement community of Sun City. Youngtown is northwest of

downtown Phoenix Downtown Phoenix is the central business district (CBD) of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located in the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County and ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the town has a total area of , of which , or 0.40%, are water.

Climate

Demographics

At the 2000 census, there were 3,010 people, 1,641 households, and 746 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,783 housing units at an average density of . The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the town was 88.90% White, 1.36% Black or African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.27% Pacific Islander, 7.24% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. 12.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 1,641 households, 7.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.5% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.5% were non-families. 50.3% of households were one person and 36.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.74 and the average family size was 2.48. The age distribution was 9.9% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 12.8% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 50.4% 65 or older. The median age was 65 years. For every 100 females, there were 70.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 66.6 males. The median household income was $23,164 and the median family income was $29,329. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $22,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,749. About 9.6% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The

Peoria Unified School District Peoria Unified School District #11 (PUSD) is a school district headquartered in the District Administration Center (DAC) in Glendale, Arizona. It provides both primary and secondary education for most of Peoria, some areas of Glendale and Young ...

serves a portion of Youngtown.

Transportation

Youngtown is a member of Valley Metro, the regional transportation agency.

Valley Metro Bus Valley Metro Bus is a transit bus system for public transport in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. In , the Valley Metro half the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Buses are operated by private companies contracte ...

route 106 serves the east border of Youngtown on 111th Avenue.

References

External links

*
Agua Fria Ranch

Youngtown on Visit Arizona
{{authority control Planned communities Phoenix metropolitan area Retirement communities Towns in Maricopa County, Arizona