What’s it like to live-and-play in a city named Surprise? Well, pardon the cliché but it’s full of surprises!

Our sprawling suburban city is located in the northwest Phoenix Metropolitan area, just 45 minutes from Downtown Phoenix and the Sky Harbor International Airport.

Residents and visitors enjoy the small-town feel with big-city amenities that only Surprise can offer. From community celebrations, art galleries and cultural experiences, to regional festivals, our multigenerational city has something for everyone.

Surprise is home to the southwest’s largest tennis and racquet complex, professionally designed golf courses, an urban fishing lake and aquatic centers.

Each spring, our population explodes when we welcome the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers during the Cactus League Spring Training! Voted 2018’s Number 1 Spring Training Stadium in Arizona by USA Today*, Surprise Stadium offers the ultimate baseball fan experience complete with up-close and personal interactions with your favorite major leaguers!

The stadium hosts minor league teams, national high school and college baseball tournaments, USA Professional Baseball teams, events and more during the Major League Baseball regular season.

Surprise is bounded by the expansive White Tank Mountain range to the west and the beautiful Sonoran Desert and Lake Pleasant Regional Park to the north. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy that hiking, fishing and camping are within a 20-minute drive when living-in or visiting Surprise.

Our contiguity to the Phoenix Metropolitan area provides residents and visitors opportunities to experience all that a bustling metropolis has to offer including world-renowned shopping and dining, concert and sports venues, theatres, adventure excursions and more!

Plus, Surprise’s proximity to scenic cities like Sedona, Prescott and Flagstaff, the always-open city of Las Vegas, Nevada, and the beaches and mega-metropolises in California mean that day-trips and weekend getaways are a road trip reality!

Ready to visit Surprise? Plan your trip and Find Your Surprise on our one-stop-shop-and-play visitor website exploresurprise.com!

* (Feb. 22, 2018) USA Today: Ranking Arizona spring training parks: Surprise at the top https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2018/02/22/ranking-arizona-spring-training-parks/364244002/

Our History

Our city was just one square mile of farmland back in 1938 when Flora Mae Statler founded it. So why did she call us Surprise? According to Statler’s daughter Elizabeth Wusich Stoft, her mother once commented "she would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much."

We are confident that Flora Mae would indeed be surprised of how this once small town has developed and grown into the Surprise of today.

The original one square mile of farmlands still exists and is aptly called “The Original Townsite”.

Learn more about how this once small farming community transformed into Arizona’s 10th largest-city in “The City of Surprise: A History in Progress,” a 104-page book full of photos and anecdotes, plus an accompanying DVD documentary set. The book is available for purchase at the Surprise History Project, or you can watch the video at https://surprisetv.surpriseaz.gov.

City Facts

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Awards & Recognitions

Economic Development

2018 – AZ TechCelerator’s Global Concierge program wins Westmarc’s Best of the West

2018 – AZ TechCelerator accepted into the Global Soft Landings Network under the International Business Innovation Association (inBIA).

2018 - Surprise awarded International Economic Development Council (IEDC) for the annual Surprise Retail Survey. “Bronze Excellence in Economic Development Award” in the category of Business Retention and Expansion Program of 3 Years or More.

Human Service & Community Vitality

2017 – City of Surprise selected as a National Finalist for the 2017 MetLife Foundation/Generations United America’s Best Intergenerational Communities Awards



2018 – Phoenix Business Journal recognizes Surprise Resource Center partner as Health Care Heroes award finalist

Public Safety

2017, 2019 - Surprise Fire-Medical Department awarded American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Award

2018 – Surprise named 7th safest city in Arizona by Safewise.com

2019 – Surprise named 6th safest city in Arizona by Safewise.com

Recreation & Tourism

2017 - Community and Recreation Services awarded gold and silver in multiple categories on at the 23rd Annual APS Arizona Talent in Event Concepts Awards

2018 - Surprise Stadium, spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City royals, ranked the No. 1 Spring Training stadium in Arizona USA TODAY

2018 – Surprise’s Adaptive Spring Sports Training Clinic wins the “Outstanding Program – Adaptive Program Award” for populations over 100,000 at the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association Awards

2019 – City wins Outstanding Marketing Campaign – Rural for its Find Your Surprise marketing campaign, including the website ExploreSurprise.com at the Arizona Governor’s Conference on Tourism