Apache Junction and Gold Canyon residents enjoy an attractive lifestyle and a fantastic quality of life.

Apache Junction is a desert community at an elevation 2,070 feet above sea level and located 35 miles directly east of Phoenix on Highway 60 (the Superstition Freeway). It is the easternmost community in the Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan area. Incorporated in 1978, the city currently encompasses approximately 36.5 square miles. It is home to the legendary Superstition Mountains and is the gateway to a wonderful outdoor recreational area.

With a hometown feel, Apache Junction continues to value and respect the natural environment, with lifestyles and activities everyone can enjoy.

The year-round population of Apache Junction in 2004 is estimated at 41,104. Each year the city welcomes over 35,000 seasonal residents, increasing the population of the city from mid-October to mid-April to over 76,000 residents. The area is fast becoming a popular destination for families, vacationers and business. Surrounded by every natural beauty the southwest can offer, Apache Junction is a growing city with an exciting historic past.

Having celebrated its 25th year of incorporation, Apache Junction does have a place is Arizona history as the point of convergence for supplies and labor during the construction of the Roosevelt Dam, 30 miles east on the historic Apache Trail.

Apache Junction, with mining and transportation roots in the late 19th- and early 20th-century, has never had the traditional downtown amenities found in more established communities. The earliest residential and commercial development in Apache Junction occurred in the 1950s and 1960s along the Apache Trail and was centered around the Superstition Inn (the current

Grand Hotel Triangle / Basha’s Plaza sites). This is the area that the city is actively working to develop as a 21st-century downtown for the community.

In the past ten years Apache Junction has been experiencing moderate residential growth with over 8,000 new homes constructed. The purchasers of these new homes are primarily young dual-income families with children. The cost of living index for Apache Junction is 73 (100 is the national average).

Close to it all, but far enough away from the hustle and bustle, Apache Junction still has the wide open spaces that people come west to find. With all the amenities found locally or very close by, the Apache Junction area is an inviting oasis in the stress-filled environment of today.

Area Information

Frequently Used Phone Numbers

Education
The Apache Junction/Gold Canyon area prides itself on the great educational opportunities available to residents. Opportunities from public school to charter and private, Montessori to Christian, and pre-school to college are available.
Apache Junction Unified School District
Central Arizona College
Charter Elementary Academy
Charter High School
Little Prospector Pre-School
Montessori Academy & Childcare

Weather
The area experiences approximately nine inches of rain, and an average of 214 totally cloudless days per year. The average January temperature is 53 degrees F, and the average July temperature is 93 degrees F.

Taxes
Sales
State of Arizona 5.6%
Pinal County 1.0%
City of Apache Junction 2.2%

Property (per $100 assessed valuation), 2001
City of Apache Junction 0.0
Pinal County 7.64
Apache Unified School District 8.07

Income
City of Apache Junction none
State of Arizona $900*
* Based on a median family income of $37,726.
Sources: League of Arizona Cities and Towns, Arizona Department of Revenue

Demographics
Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, Queen Valley
Population 41,104 6,029 820
Median age 44 years 56 years 65 years
Households 17,923 2,785 417
Median family income $40,516 $60,438 $44,213
Source: U.S. Census, 2000

Links
Apache Chamber of Commerce

City of Apache Junction

Pool Regulations