Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064.
Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Yuma County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2020 estimated population of the Yuma MSA is 203,247. According to Guinness World Records, Yuma is the "Sunniest City on Earth", promising "sunshine and warm weather at least 91% of the year." Anywhere from 70,000 to over 85,000 out-of-state visitors make Yuma their winter residence.
Yuma's weather also makes it an agricultural powerhouse, growing over 175 types of crops, the largest of which is lettuce. Colloquially known by many as "The Winter Lettuce Capital of The World", Yuma County provides 90% of all leafy vegetables grown from November to March in the United States. Yuma is also known for its large military population due to several military bases, including the Marine Corps Air Station.
Yuma is in the state's southwestern corner, in the Sonoran Desert, Yuma Desert sub-region.
History
The area's first inhabitants were Native American cultures and historic tribes. Their descendants now occupy the Cocopah and Quechan reservations.
In 1540, Spanish colonial expeditions under Hernando de Alarcón and Melchior Díaz visited the area and immediately recognized the natural crossing of the Colorado River as an ideal spot for a city. The Colorado River narrows to slightly under wide in one area. Military expeditions that crossed the Colorado River at the Yuma Crossing include Juan Bautista de Anza (1774), the Mormon Battalion (1848) and the California Column (1862).
During and after the California Gold Rush to the late 1870s, the Yuma Crossing was known for its ferry crossings for the Southern Emigrant Trail. This was considered the gateway to California and the "Great Southwest", as it was one of the few natural spots where travelers could cross the otherwise very wide Colorado River.
First settlements Following the United States establishing Fort Yuma, two towns developed one mile downriver. The one on the California side was called Jaeger City, named after the owner of Jaeger's Ferry, which crossed the river there. It was for a time the larger of the two, with the Butterfield Overland Mail office and station, two blacksmiths, a hotel, two stores, and other dwellings.
The other was called Colorado City. Developed on the south side of the river in what is now Arizona by speculator Charles Poston, it was the site of the custom house. When started, it was just north of the border between Mexican-ruled Sonora, Mexico and California. After the Gadsden Purchase by the United States, the town bordered on the Territory of New Mexico. This area was designated as the Territory of Arizona in 1863. The Colorado City site at the time was duly registered in San Diego; both banks of the Colorado River just below its confluence with the Gila were recognized as being within the jurisdiction of California. The county of San Diego collected taxes from there for many years.
From 1853 a smaller settlement, Arizona City, grew up on the high ground across from the fort and was organized under the name of its post office in 1858. It had adobe dwellings, two stores and two saloons. Colorado City and Jaeger City were almost completely destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862 and had to be rebuilt on higher ground. At that time Colorado City became part of Arizona City, later on taking the name Yuma in 1873.
Early development From 1854, Colorado City was the major steamboat stop for traffic up and down the Colorado River. After the 1862 flood, it became part of Arizona City. The steamboats transported passengers and equipment for the various mines and military outposts along the Colorado; Colorado City was the terminus of wagon traffic up the Gila River into New Mexico Territory. They offloaded the cargo from ships at the mouth of the Colorado River at Robinson's Landing and from 1864 at Port Isabel. From 1864, the Yuma Quartermaster Depot, today a state historic park, supplied all forts in present-day Arizona, as well as large parts of Colorado and New Mexico. After Arizona became a separate territory, Yuma became the county seat for Yuma County in 1871, replacing La Paz, the first seat.
The Southern Pacific Railroad bridged the river in 1877, and acquired George Alonzo Johnson's Colorado Steam Navigation Company, the only steamboat company on the river. Yuma became the new base of navigation on the river, ending the need for Port Isabel, which was abandoned in 1879. The warehouses and shipyard there were moved to Yuma.
Geography Yuma is near the borders of California to the west and Mexico to the south, and just west of the Gila River's confluence with the Colorado. The city is approximately from the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), a branch of the Pacific.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.07%) is water.
Climate Yuma is noted for its weather extremes. Of any populated place in the contiguous United States, Yuma is the driest, the sunniest, and the least humid, has the lowest frequency of precipitation, and has the highest number of sunny days per year—175—with a daily maximum temperature of or higher.
Yuma features a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with extremely hot summers and warm winters. Atmospheric humidity is usually very low, except during what are called "Gulf surges", when a maritime tropical air mass from the Gulf of California is drawn northward, usually in connection with the summer monsoon or the passage of a tropical storm to the south.
The sun is said to shine during about 90% of the daylight hours, making Yuma one of the sunniest places in the world. The city receives the most recorded mean sunshine of anywhere on Earth, although the equipment used by the United States tends to provide higher sunshine estimates than the traditional Campbell–Stokes recorder.
On average, Yuma receives of rain annually. Even in the wettest year of 2005, only fell. The driest year at Yuma Airport was 2007, with only recorded. On average, the wettest months of the year are during the monsoon months of August and September, and December, when moisture from winter storms arrives from the Pacific Ocean. June is the driest month, with drought virtually absolute.
In 1995, Yuma recorded its all-time high temperature of . The lowest recorded temperature was in the Yuma-Mesa area in January 2007. The temperature fell to for approximately two hours, harming many crops grown in and around Yuma. Citrus suffered the most, particularly the lemon crop. According to an Arizona Department of Agriculture report in February 2007, there was a 75% to 95% loss of crop and trees. On average (according to the 1991–2020 climate period), the temperature reaches freezing point in one year in fifteen, and there are 117 days per year during which the temperature reaches or exceeds , usually from April through October. During July and August, the temperature fails to reach on only one and two days on average, respectively.
In 1997, the desert city sustained a full tropical storm after Hurricane Nora made landfall at the mouth of the Colorado River and quickly moved due north along it. This rare event cut power to 12,000 customers in Yuma, and dropped of rain at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The last time a hurricane had hit near Yuma was in mid-August 1977, when similar rainfalls were recorded.
Snow in Yuma has only been recorded on December 12, 1932, when a light coating of snow covered the city for the first and only time in its history. A few flakes fell in January 1937 and December 1967, mixed with rain.
Demographics
Yuma first appeared on the 1860 U.S. Census as the village of "Arizonia" (Arizona City) in what was then Arizona County, New Mexico Territory (see Arizona City (Yuma, Arizona) for details). It returned as Arizona City in 1870 and then became Yuma in 1873. On April 12, 1902, the village of Yuma was incorporated as a town. It formally incorporated as a city on April 7, 1914.
Racial and ethnic composition +Yuma, Arizona – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White (NH)36,78435,30629,81547.45%37.94%31.20%Black or African American (NH)2,2202,5322,0692.86%2.72%2.17%Native American or Alaska Native (NH)7479928430.96%1.07%0.88%Asian (NH)1,0861,5611,7861.40%1.68%1.87%Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)1051431350.14%0.15%0.14%Some other race (NH)1001363620.13%0.15%0.38%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)1,0731,3612,3181.38%1.46%2.43%Hispanic or Latino (any race)35,40051,03358,22045.67%54.84%60.93%Total77,51593,06495,548100.00%100.00%100.00%
2022 American Community Survey American Community Survey estimates, there were people and households. The population density was . There were housing units at an average density of .To calculate density we use the land area figure from the places file in The racial makeup of the city was 39.7% White, 27.9% some other race, 2.4% Black or African American, 1.5% Asian, and 0.8% Native American or Alaskan Native, with 27.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 66.5% of the population.
Of the households, 37.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% had seniors 65 years or older living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 6.8% were couples cohabitating, 17.4% had a male householder with no partner present, and 27.6% had a female householder with no partner present. The median household size was and the median family size was .
The age distribution was 26.3% under 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was years.
The median income for a household was $, with family households having a median income of $ and non-family households $. The per capita income was $. Out of the people with a determined poverty status, 9.8% were below the poverty line. Further, 10.5% of minors and 11.6% of seniors were below the poverty line.
In the survey, residents self-identified with various ethnic ancestries. People of English descent made up 5.6% of the population of the town, followed by German at 5.0%, American at 3.4%, Irish at 3.1%, Sub-Saharan African at 1.4%, Swedish at 1.4%, Italian at 1.3%, French at 0.9%, Norwegian at 0.7%, Scottish at 0.6%, and Scotch-Irish at 0.5%.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Yuma had a population of 95,548. The median age was 34.5 years. 26.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.5 males age 18 and over.
98.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 33,582 households in Yuma, of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.0% were married-couple households, 17.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 41,496 housing units, of which 19.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.5%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 44,367 46.4% Black or African American 2,443 2.6% American Indian and Alaska Native 1,683 1.8% Asian 1,978 2.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 180 0.2% Some other race 22,078 23.1% Two or more races 22,819 23.9% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 58,220 60.9%
2010 census