Phoenix lands in top 5 for economic growth in US, study finds

PHOENIX — Two Valley cities ranked in the top 10 of a recent economic study examining how the U.S. economy grew between 2019 and 2023.

The study from Coworking Cafe ranked Phoenix as No. 4 in terms of economic growth between those years.

President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry Danny Seiden said the research proves the Valley’s economy is booming.

“We’re having a lot of capital investment right now,” Seiden told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Tuesday.

He said the only sluggish aspect of the business climate has been job creation.

“But that lags a lot of that capital investment,” Seiden said. “So you can look for some of those jobs to start reflecting in our jobs reports later in the year and early into the first quarter of 2026.”

What else does economic study say about Phoenix?

The study also found that the Valley has seen balanced performance across housing, trade and employment, which sets it up for long-term resilience.

Researchers also found that there was:

• A 42% rise in gross domestic product.

• A 12% increase in median earnings.

• A 26% increase in total roadway miles.

“As the study showed, things like infrastructure continues to attract people,” Seiden said. “And that’s just not roads; it’s also energy and water. And just the way Arizona’s always planned for that.”

However, there’s one economic category in which Phoenix isn’t performing well, he added.

“We just have not built enough homes to meet the demand that we have, so our supply is not where it needs to be, so we need to build more,” Seiden said.

Legislation might be necessary to spur this growth.

“There’s a lot of slowdown going on at local governments with zoning right now,” he said. “So whatever we have to do to speed up on that, we will.”