Maricopa is located 6.5 miles (10 km) south-southeast of Taft,[8] at an elevation of 883 feet (269 m).

The Carrizo Plain is located to the northwest, and the enormous Midway-Sunset Oil Field, the third largest oil field in the United States, is adjacent on the north and east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), all of it land.

Maricopa is in the extreme southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley, on the first rise of land into the foothills of the Coast Ranges, with the Temblor Range, following the San Andreas Fault, trending northwest of town, and the San Emigdio Mountains to the southeast.

The climate of the area is hot and semi-arid, with summertime temperatures routinely exceeding 100 °F (38 °C).

At the 2000 census there were 1,111 people in 404 households, including 302 families, in the city.

Maricopa Hospital opened on April 22, 1911, and the city was incorporated on July 25, 1911.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times on July 4, 2011, the Maricopa Police Department has become embroiled in a local controversy playing out through large signs posted on the city's main thoroughfare.

The police have been accused of racial profiling and "over-enforcement" regarding traffic violations and frequent towing of vehicles driven by drivers without proof of insurance or with license or license plate infractions.

In mid-2011, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Jennie Pasquarella is quoted as saying, "Maricopa has been a shining example of impoundments gone wrong," and "They're essentially creating a racket to steal people's cars.

"[15] The damage done during this era to the city of Maricopa's reputation persists, as recently as May 2022, Reason magazine reported that, "...the town of Maricopa gained a reputation for targeting drivers, especially farm workers, in the hopes that they'd be undocumented immigrants, thus allowing the small police department to impound their cars without much fuss.