On April 7, 2008, Goodyear's city council unanimously approved a memorandum to fund a new $33 million baseball spring training complex for Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. This includes a 10,000-seat park, Goodyear Ballpark. The Reds and the Indians will have separate offices, clubhouses and practice fields. The Indians, who had held their spring training in Tucson, Arizona for many years until moving to Winter Haven, Florida in 1993, agreed to return their spring training location back to Arizona on December 21, 2006.

On June 6, 2008, Goodyear won the All-America City Award, sponsored by the National Civic League.

Goodyear was established in 1917 with the purchase of 16,000 acres of land by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to cultivate cotton for vehicle tire threads. Goodyear became a town in November 1946 and reached city status in 1985.

In the 1980s, the remaining 10,000 acres of the original Goodyear Tire acreage was sold for development.

Goodyear is located at 33°27′00″N 112°21′30″W / 33.45°N 112.35833°W / 33.45; -112.35833 (33.449917, -112.358382). Nearby cities include Avondale, Litchfield Park, and Buckeye.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 116.5 square miles (301.6 km²), all of it land.

The largest master planned community in Goodyear is Estrella, south of the Gila River, composed of over 2500 homes as of September 2006.

As of 2000[update], there were 18,911 people, 6,179 households, and 4,986 families residing in the city. The population density was 162.4 people per square mile (62.7/km²). There were 6,771 housing units at an average density of 58.1/sq mi (22.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.13% White, 5.20% Black or African American, 1.06% Native American, 1.71% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 10.87% from other races, and 2.95% from two or more races. 20.80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,179 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.1% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.3% were non-families. 14.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.