No. Phoenix is a city, not a state. It is in Arizona, postal code AZ, and Phoenix is both the state capital and Arizona's largest city. That double role is what makes the question harder than it looks.
| State | Arizona |
|---|---|
| USPS code | AZ |
| Capital | Phoenix |
| Largest city | Phoenix, the same city |
| Region | West, Mountain division |
| Statehood | February 14, 1912, the 48th state |
| Nickname | Grand Canyon State |
| Motto | Ditat Deus |
| Electoral votes | 11 |
| Area rank | 6th of 50 |
Why this question gets asked
Phoenix is an unusually easy city to misfile, for three reasons that are specific to it.
- It breaks the pattern people learned. Most US capitals are quiet cities that lost the popularity contest: Albany not New York City, Sacramento not Los Angeles, Salem not Portland. Phoenix is in the minority where the capital and the biggest city are the same place, so the mental rule "the famous city is never the capital" fails here.
- Arizona keeps its own clock. Most of the state stays on Mountain Standard Time all year and does not move for daylight saving, so Phoenix matches Denver in winter and Los Angeles in summer. Schedules and booking sites list Phoenix with its own time note, which makes it look like a separate jurisdiction.
- The valley is full of separate cities. Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale and Gilbert are their own incorporated municipalities sitting right against Phoenix. When five city names share one metro area, "Phoenix" starts sounding like a region rather than a city.
The near answers people give instead
- Tucson. Arizona's second city, in the south of the state. Also a city, not a state, and it is not the capital either.
- Arizona itself. Some searchers know the pair but cannot remember which name is the container. The state is Arizona, the city inside it is Phoenix.
- New Mexico. Arizona and New Mexico entered the Union five weeks apart in 1912 and share a long border, so the two get swapped in quizzes.
What Arizona actually is
Arizona was admitted on February 14, 1912, the 48th state and the last of the contiguous ones. Only Alaska and Hawaii, both admitted in 1959, came later. It ranks 6th in area, so it is a large state with a comparatively concentrated population.
Arizona shares an international border with Mexico. It is also one of the four states that meet at the Four Corners marker, alongside Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, the single point in the country where four state borders touch. Its state bird is the Cactus Wren, its flower the Saguaro Cactus Blossom, its tree the Palo Verde. It carries 11 electoral votes, and no US president has been born there.
Filling in a form or a quiz
- City: Phoenix
- County: Maricopa County
- State: Arizona
- State abbreviation (USPS): AZ
- State capital: Phoenix, the same answer
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Is Phoenix a state?
No, Phoenix is a US city in Arizona.
What state is Phoenix in?
Phoenix is in Arizona.
What is the capital of Arizona?
The capital of Arizona is Phoenix, which is also the largest city in the state.
Does Phoenix change its clocks for daylight saving?
No. Phoenix stays on Mountain Standard Time year round, so its offset from the East Coast changes by an hour each spring and autumn without the city touching its clocks.
How many cities does Arizona have?
Arizona has dozens of incorporated cities and towns. The largest is Phoenix, followed by Tucson. See all of Arizona's major cities and facts.