Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The population was 32,689 as of the 2020 census, and was estimated at 35,829 in 2025.
History Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a U.S. Navy officer in the service of the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was ordered by the U.S. War Department to build a federal wagon road across the 35th parallel. His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of the use of camels as pack animals in the Southwestern desert. Beale traveled through the present-day Kingman in 1857 surveying the road and in 1859 to build the road. Beale's Wagon Road became part of U.S. Route 66 and later Interstate 40. Remnants of the wagon road can still be seen in White Cliffs Canyon in Kingman.
Kingman was founded in 1882 before statehood, in Arizona Territory. Situated in the Hualapai Valley between the Cerbat and Hualapai mountain ranges, Kingman had its modest beginnings as a simple railroad siding near Beale Springs. Civil engineer Lewis Kingman supervised the building of the railroad from Winslow to Beale Springs. This spring had been used by Native Americans living in the area for centuries.
The Mohave County seat was originally located in Mohave City from 1864 to 1867. In 1865, the portion of Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River was transferred to Nevada after Nevada's statehood, and became part of Lincoln County, now Clark County, Nevada. The remaining territory of Pah-Ute County became part of Mohave County. Its seat was moved to Hardyville (now within Bullhead City) in 1867. The county seat transferred to the mining town of Cerbat in 1873, then to Mineral Park near Chloride. After some time, the county seat and all instruments were permanently moved to Kingman in 1887.
During World War II, Kingman was the site of a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) airfield. The Kingman Army Airfield (now Kingman Airport) was founded at the beginning of the war as an aerial gunnery training base. It became one of the USAAF's largest, training some 35,000 soldiers and airmen. The airfield and Kingman played a significant role in this important era of America's history. Following the war, the Kingman Airfield was one of the largest reclamation sites for obsolete military aircraft.
Postwar, Kingman experienced growth as several major employers moved into the vicinity. In 1953, Kingman was used to detain those men accused of practicing polygamy in the Short Creek raid, which was at the time one of the largest arrests in American history.C.R. Waters, Mohave Miner, August 30, 1953. In 1955, Ford Motor Company established a proving ground (now one of the Chrysler Proving Grounds) in nearby Yucca at the former Yucca Army Airfield. Several major new neighborhoods in Kingman were developed to house the skilled workers and professionals employed at the proving ground. Likewise, the development of the Mineral Park mine near adjacent Chloride, and construction of the Mohave Power Station in nearby Laughlin, Nevada, in 1971 contributed to Kingman's population growth. Also, the location of a General Cable plant at the Kingman Airport Industrial Park provided steady employment.
Kingman explosion
The Kingman Explosion, also known as the Doxol Disaster or Kingman BLEVE, was a catastrophic boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) that occurred on July 5, 1973, during a propane transfer from a Doxol railroad car to a storage tank on the Getz rail siding near Andy Devine Avenue/Route 66. Firefighters Memorial Park in Kingman is dedicated to the 11 firefighters who died in the blaze.
1980s and on The 1915-built Mohave County Courthouse and 1909-built Jail were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The downtown and other areas of Kingman were evaluated for historic resources in a 1985 study, the Kingman Multiple Resources Area study. The study identified 63 historic resources in Kingman and led to many of them being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. PDF also available at NPS version. The county courthouse and jail, a 1928-built locomotive (the Santa Fe 3759), a World War II gunnery school radio tower, and about 50 various houses and other buildings in Kingman are listed on the National Register, comprising the majority of National Register listings in Mohave County.
Geography Kingman is in central Mohave County, along Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 93. The city is served by three exits on I-40, which leads east to Flagstaff and southwest to Needles, California. US-93 leads northwest to Las Vegas and southeast to Wickenburg, from Phoenix. US 93 is planned to be replaced by Interstate 11 once built to interstate highway standards.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Climate Kingman sits on the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert, but it is located in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) due to its plateau location. Kingman's higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley keeps summer high temperatures away from the extremes ( or more) experienced by Phoenix and the Colorado River Valley. The higher elevation also contributes to winter cold and occasional snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above frequently, but rarely exceed . Summertime lows usually remain between . Winter highs are generally mild, ranging from around , but winter nighttime lows often fall to freezing, with significantly lower temperatures possible, and occasional snow.
The record low temperature in Kingman was set on January 9, 1937, at , and the record high temperature occurred on July 15, 2023, at . The wettest year was 1919 with and the driest year was 1947 with . The most rainfall in one month was in September 1939. The most rainfall in 24 hours was on November 28, 1919. The snowiest year was 1949 with . The most snowfall in one month was in December 1932. On December 31, 2014, and January 1, 2015, Kingman received of snow. The storm was so significant that it was a contributing factor in the closure of Interstate 40 at the US 93 Junction for 24 hours.
Demographics
According to realtor website Zillow, the average price of a home as of July 31, 2026, in Kingman was $275,989.
2024 American Community Survey As of 2024 American Community Survey estimates, there were 34,375 people and 15,206 estimated households. The population density was . There were 15,812 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 78.95% White, 2.00% African American, 1.10 Native American, 1.70% Asian, 0.48% Pacific Islander, 4.58% from some other races and 11.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 15.97% of the population.
There were 15,206 households, 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% had seniors 65 years or older living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 8.7% were couples cohabitating, 19.4% had a male householder with no partner present, and 26.5% had a female householder with no partner present. The median household size was 2.20 and the median family size was 2.69.
The age distribution was 22.0% under 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 25.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 43.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males.
The median income for a household was $61,792, with family households having a median income of $70,609 and non-family households $38,940. The per capita income was $34,866. Out of the 33,402 people with a determined poverty status, 14.3% were below the poverty line. Further, 17.7% of minors and 10.1% of seniors were below the poverty line.
In the survey, residents self-identified with various ethnic ancestries. People of German descent made up 16.8% of the population of the city, followed by English at 13.8%, Irish at 12.0%, American at 4.1%, Italian at 3.6%, French at 3.0%, Norwegian at 2.8%, Scottish at 2.6%, Polish at 1.6%, Dutch at 1.5%, Russian at 0.8%, Scotch-Irish at 0.8%, Welsh at 0.7%, French Canadian at 0.5%, Portuguese at 0.5%, Swedish at 0.5%, Hungarian at 0.4%, Swiss at 0.4%, Arab at 0.3%, Ukrainian at 0.3%, Czech at 0.2%, Danish at 0.2%, West Indian at 0.1%, Greek at 0.0%, Lithuanian 0.0%, Slovak 0.0%, and Subsaharan African 0.0%.
The top five reported languages (people were allowed to report up to two languages, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (92.0%), Spanish (5.0%), Indo-European (0.8%), Asian and Pacific Islander (1.4%), and Other (0.8%).
Kingman has an estimated 47.0% employment rate, with 20.0% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 89.5% holding a high school diploma.
+Kingman, Arizona – racial and ethnic composition Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic) Pop. 1980 Pop. 1990 Pop. 2000 Pop. 2010 White alone (NH) 8,276(89.40%) 11,393(89.55%) 17,119(85.30%) 22,806(81.25%) 24,585(75.21%) Black or African American alone (NH) 0(0.00%) 34(0.27%) 109(0.54%) 271(0.97%) 397(1.21%) Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 195(2.11%) 207(1.63%) 329(1.64%) 402(1.43%) 463(1.42%) Asian alone (NH) 68(0.73%) 127(1.00%) 284(1.42%) 452(1.61%) 674(2.06%) Pacific Islander alone (NH) — — 27(0.13%) 85(0.30%) 80(0.24%) Other race alone (NH) 16(0.17%) 12(0.09%) 17(0.08%) 14(0.05%) 141(0.43%) Mixed race or multiracial (NH) — — 328(1.63%) 535(1.91%) 1,639(5.01%) Hispanic or Latino (any race) 702(7.58%) 949(7.46%) 1,856(9.25%) 3,503(12.48%) 4,710(14.41%) Total 9,257(100.00%) 12,722(100.00%) 20,069(100.00%) 28,068(100.00%) 32,689(100.00%)
2020 census As of the 2020 census, there were 32,689 people, 13,207 households, and 8,371 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 14,135 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 80.18% White, 1.31% African American, 1.87% Native American, 2.14% Asian, 0.27% Pacific Islander, 4.52% from some other races and 9.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 14.41% of the population.
2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 28,068 people, 11,217 households, and 7,301 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 12,724 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.04% White, 1.03% African American, 1.70% Native American, 1.67% Asian, 0.30% Pacific Islander, 4.20% from some other races and 3.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 12.48% of the population.
2000 census As of the 2000 census, there were 20,069 people, 7,854 households and 5,427 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 8,604 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.94% White, 0.55% African American, 1.98% Native American, 1.44% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 3.41% from some other races and 2.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 9.25% of the population.
There were 7,854 households out of which 30.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% have someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.