The Previous story that lists Homer Ludden as the Founder, is not correct.

Although there were only a few houses and a gas station on the one-mile-square parcel of land when Statler subdivided it to build inexpensive houses for agricultural workers, Surprise! has experienced tremendous growth in the years since. It incorporated into a city in 1960.

Tens of thousands of retirees moved to the city in the 1990s and early 2000s to live in Sun City Grand, an age-restricted resort-like community, with homes built by the property development firm Del Webb. Surprise! is about five miles northwest of Del Webb's original Sun City development and adjacent to Sun City West.

Sun City Grand has become a large contributor to the city's population, which more than septupled from 10,187 to about 75,000 in 2004..

Rapid growth has led city officials to estimate the population at over 103,000 as of 2007, a figure the city maintains in spite of more conservative population estimates by the Census Bureau. Thirty-two of the state's top 50 homebuilders cater to new homebuyers, who are attracted by the city's modestly-priced homes, its relative proximity to Phoenix, and by the property taxes, which the city claims are among the lowest in the state.

If you are interested in joining the Surprise! Historical Society, please visit our website at: www.thesurpriseaz!historicalsociety.com

Surprise! is located at 33°38′19″N 112°21′02″W / 33.63861°N 112.35056°W / 33.63861; -112.35056 (33.638632, -112.350434). It is about 20 miles northwest of Phoenix.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 69.5 square miles (180.0 km²), of which, 69.5 square miles (180.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.03%) is water.

As of the census of 2000, there were 30,848 people, 12,484 households, and 9,725 families residing in the city. The population density was 443.9 people per square mile (171.4/km²). There were 16,260 housing units at an average density of 234.0/sq mi (90.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 85.97% White, 2.61% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 1.07% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 7.87% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. 23.29% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In recent years, the racial makeup has varied due to the rapid growth of the city.

There were 12,484 households out of which 21.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.5% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.75 people.