“The heat is deadly,” said Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.
Phoenix’s hottest summer on record in 2023 came with a record number of heat-related deaths. The city of Phoenix is planning increased heat relief efforts for the upcoming summer in hopes to stop the extreme heat from claiming lives.
In 2023, 625 people died in Maricopa County from heat-related causes, 395 of whom were in Phoenix. It was a 47% increase in overall heat-related deaths in the county compared with 2022 (425 deaths) and a 61% year-to-year increase for deaths in Phoenix (245 in 2022).
