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Before World War II the focus of Arizona’s economy was primary production—mineral extraction, lumbering, cattle raising, and crop growing. Since the late 1940s the focus has shifted toward manufacturing industry and services, the economy becoming one that better represents the country’s growing affluence and technology. This is especially true of the Phoenix area, where a vibrant high-technology economy has arisen.
Agriculture and livestock
Good soil, plenty of irrigation water, and a long growing season enable Arizona to produce cotton, alfalfa, and a variety of grains, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Arizona continues to be one of the country’s leading cotton producers. For many years citrus growing has remained an important and expanding part of the state’s economy, and, more recently, wine producers have been successful growing a number of varietal grapes. Livestock products include beef, dairy goods, and poultry and eggs. The average size of farms in Arizona is larger than that in any other state, and farmers and ranchers use more than four-fifths of the state’s water.
Resources and power
Metallic ores such as copper, zinc, and, to a modest degree, silver and gold traditionally have brought revenue to the state. Coal from the Black Mesa area of the Native American reservations in northeastern Arizona is important, since coal-fired stations generate much of the electricity for the southwestern United States; the northeastern area also produces a small amount of petroleum, as well as large quantities of uranium.
Since the 1880s, northern Arizona’s massive stands of ponderosa pine have supplied a strong lumber and pulp-paper industry in the state. Rich alluvial soils, particularly in Yuma, Pinal, Pima, and Maricopa counties, have supported large and profitable agricultural operations. The state’s attractive climate and landscape can also be counted among its most valuable resources.
The natural geographic corridor created by the Colorado Plateau together with its Mogollon Rim escarpment has made possible Arizona’s irrigation projects and most of the state’s hydroelectric power, including that generated by the Roosevelt, Hoover, and Glen Canyon dams. Altogether, nearly a dozen dams control the Mogollon Rim’s runoff, impounding and diverting the water to provide flood control and lakes for water storage. This hydrologic pattern has been a source of much political and legal trouble for Arizona, including years of litigation with California over rights to water from the Colorado River system. The state’s internal sharing of water is also a major problem because groundwater has been depleted, particularly around Phoenix and Tucson, and there are no new sources of surface water. Cities have found it necessary to buy water rights from distant areas, and litigation involving municipalities, Native American tribes, and federal agencies over water rights is increasingly common.
Manufacturing
Between 1880 and 1950 the production of copper remained by far the most important industry in Arizona. Arizona is still the leading copper-producing state in the country, but manufacturing has grown to become the state’s most important basic industry, notably in electronics, communications, aeronautics, and aluminum. Although this growth has brought one of the most dynamic and affluent economies in the nation, many of Arizona’s outlying counties, particularly those with large Native American populations, remain among the poorest areas in the country.
Tourism and retirement
Urban and industrial expansion have so polluted major areas of Arizona that it no longer serves as the refuge it once did for sick people seeking pure air. The climate, scenery, and casual lifestyle, however, still attract millions of visitors each year, and the state has become a popular retirement centre, particularly in the lower desert areas. Large retirement communities such as Sun City, near Phoenix, and Green Valley, near Tucson, have continued to grow.
Transportation
Like other western states, Arizona has not emphasized the development of mass transit systems, and state and municipal governments struggle to build sufficient roads to accommodate a swelling population. It has long been so. The state’s earliest service industry was long-distance cartage over rough desert and mountain country; in modern times, the five interstate highways that pass through Arizona are crowded with heavy trucks. These highways generally follow historic roads, most of which were established along Native American trade routes and accommodated stagecoaches and freight carriers. The railroads followed in the later 19th century, with well-established east-west routes passing through southern and northern Arizona, but there was little service to the rugged interior. A greater focus on mass transit development was evident in the state’s larger cities in the early 21st century. A light-rail system that served Phoenix and the surrounding areas began operating in 2008, and Tucson launched a streetcar service in 2014.
Surface transportation is generally organized on the model of southern California, with streets on a grid pattern punctuated by freeways and highways. Within the cities some attention has been given to the development of bicycle paths. Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport offers nonstop international and domestic flights; Tucson International Airport provides more-limited nonstop flights; and Flagstaff and Yuma airports have fewer still. Many other towns have airports capable of accommodating small jet aircraft, and there are numerous military airfields as well.