What Big Arizona Cities Are Most Forgotten?

Fact Checked by Thomas Leary

Of the dozens of cities, towns and hamlets that make up the 48th State, a few of the bunch are bound to fall by the wayside, which is exactly what happened to a surprising number of major metropolitan areas in Arizona this year.  

Of those surprises, the top one was the well-named city of Surprise, which finished with the lowest percentage of correct guesses of any Arizona city, at 38.5%, beating out other Valley area suburbs like Peoria, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe, Glendale, Scottsdale and Mesa for the top spot in the state.  

BetArizona.com - you go-to for Arizona sportsbooks - wondered which big Arizona cities tend to be forgotten the most. Using a quiz on Sporacle.com, we found the top 10 most forgotten populous cities in Arizona. We then took the top 10 biggest cities and ranked them based on the percentage of quiz takers who remembered the city. 

GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). 21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min. $5 bet. Max. $200 issued as non-withdrawable Bonus Bets that expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: dkng.co/ftball. Ends 2/9/25 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK.

Top 10 Most Forgotten Populous Arizona Cities

Rank 

City 

% Guessed Correctly 

Surprise 

38.5% 

Peoria 

43.5% 

Gilbert 

50.1% 

Chandler 

58.2% 

Tempe 

66.1% 

Glendale 

68.6% 

Scottsdale 

75.0% 

Mesa 

78.9% 

Tucson 

88.8% 

10 

Phoenix 

99.2% 

Which AZ Cities Are Forgotten The Most?

With a dismal score, the city of Surprise won the “honor” of being Arizona’s most forgotten city with 38.5% of respondents correctly guessing the West Valley mecca, beating out its neighbors from Peoria for the top spot statewide.  

Overall, Peoria (43.5%) had the second fewest correct guesses of any city in Arizona, beating out Gilbert (50.1%), Chandler (58.2%), Tempe (66.1%), Glendale (68.6%) and Scottsdale (75.0%) for that honor.  

Rounding out the list of Arizona cities that people forget exist were places like Mesa, which finished at 78.9%, while the Southern Arizona hamlet of Tucson (88.8%) and Phoenix (99.2%) were the ninth and 10th ranked areas in the Grand Canyon State this year.  

Also of interest: Arizona’s Favorite Fast Food Restaurants.

USA Today photo by  Joe Rondone.

Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan is the lead writer at BetArizona.com after covering sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.

Cited by leading media organizations, such as: