Pinal County is included in the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, Arizona Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Suburban growth southward from greater Phoenix has begun to spread into the county's northern parts; similarly, growth northward from Tucson is spreading into the county's southern portions.
Pinal County has five cities: Maricopa, Casa Grande, Apache Junction, Eloy, and Coolidge.
There are also many unincorporated areas, which have shown accelerated growth patterns in recent years; such suburban development is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
[5] Pinal County has been identified as the second riskiest county for combined impacts of climate change from 2040 to 2060, largely due to high risks of extreme heat, fire hazard and economic and crop damages.
During the 20th century, Pinal was very much a bellwether county in U.S. presidential elections, having supported the winning candidate in every election between Arizona's statehood in 1912 and 2004 except for that of 1968, when Hubert Humphrey won the county by 3.2 percentage points but lost to Richard M. Nixon.
Maricopa County is now becoming more progressive as is the trend of most largely populated city centers in America.
Donald Trump carried the county by the second-largest margin for a Republican since statehood.
Salaries for county elected officials are set by the Arizona Revised Statutes.
[20] In 2020, the Republican Party won complete control of the Board of Supervisors.
The Board of Supervisors found themselves being accused of not properly funding the Elections Department.
[21][dead link] The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Pinal County.