Sun City West is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States. The population was 25,806 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Sun City West is located northwest of

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

. It is bordered to the south, west, and north by the city of Surprise.

U.S. Route 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 General Booth Bouleva ...

runs along the southwest border of the community, and the

Arizona State Route 303 Arizona State Route 303 (SR 303) or Loop 303, also known as the Bob Stump Memorial Parkway (formerly the Estrella Freeway), is a Controlled-access highway, freeway that serves the west part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The fre ...

freeway bounds the community to the north and northwest. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.33%, are water.

Demographics

At the 2010 census there were 24,535 people, 14,873 households, and 8,550 families in the CDP. The population density was . There were 18,218 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.8% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. 1.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 14,873 households, 14 had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were married couples living together, 2.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 39.3% of households were one person and 35.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.64 and the average family size was 2.05. The age distribution was 0.1% under the age of 14, 0.1% from 15 to 19, 0.1% from 15 to 24, 0.2% from 25 to 29, 0.2% from 30 to 34, 0.2% 35 to 39, 0.4% 45 to 49, 1.5% from 50 to 54, 3.6% 55 to 59, 9.2% from 60 to 64, 13.8% from 65 to 69, 17.2% from 70 to 74, 19.5% from 75 to 79, 18.3% from 80 to 84, and 14.8% who were 85 years of age or older. The median age was 75.6 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.6 males. The median household income was $44,614 and the median family income was $58,345. Males had a median income of $48,333 versus $33,125 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $35,502. About 2.5% of families and 5.4% 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 ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

History

Sun City West was constructed on an site to the west of Sun City, including part of the former Lizard Acres cattle ranch. The community was constructed by the

Del E. Webb Construction Company The Del E. Webb Construction Company was a construction company that was founded in 1928 and developed by Del Webb. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, it became the Del E. Webb Corporation a publicly traded company on the New York ...

, overseen by R.H. Johnson. Sun City West was completely built out in 1997, and a sister city, Sun City Grand, to the southwest of Grand Avenue was started. Due to the

2019-20 coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

the city announced on March 11, 2020, the closures of all recreation centers to help reduce the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. This later led to the closures of all seven golf courses on April 13, 2020. All facilities were reopened on March 15, 2021.

Government

As an unincorporated area, Sun City West does not have a city government. Instead, Sun City West is "governed" by Property Owners and Residents Association (PORA), a

community association A community association is a nongovernmental association of participating members of a community, such as a neighborhood, village, condominium, cooperative, or group of homeowners or property owners in a delineated geographic area. Participatio ...

that advocates for the Sun City West community. Municipal services are provided by a variety of public and private organizations. Police services are provided by the

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) is the law enforcement agency that serves Maricopa County, Arizona, and is the largest Sheriffs in the United States, sheriff's office in Arizona. The MCSO provides patrol services and criminal invest ...

. Street maintenance services are paid for by the taxpayers of the entire county. Fire service is provided by Arizona Fire and Medical Authority. Parks and recreation services are controlled by Recreation Centers of Sun City West, another community organization.

Infrastructure

Electric service is provided by

Arizona Public Service Pinnacle West Capital Corporation is an American utility holding company that owns Arizona Public Service (APS). It is publicly traded on the New York Stock exchange and a component of the S&P 500 stock market index. APS is the largest utility co ...

. Natural gas is provided by

Southwest Gas Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. () is an investor-owned utility based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The company provides natural gas service to over 2 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in parts of Arizona, Nevada, and ...

. Water and sewer utilities are provided by a private utility, Epcor Water. Sanitation service is by a private hauler.

References

External links

Property Owners and Residents Association of Sun City West

Recreation Centers of Sun City West
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Maricopa County, Arizona Census-designated places in Arizona Retirement communities in the United States Phoenix metropolitan area