Gilbert is a large town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix within the city's metropolitan area. Incorporated on July 6, 1920, Gilbert was once known as the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World". The population was 267,918 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 275,346 in 2022. It is the fifth-largest municipality in Arizona, and the fourth-largest in the Phoenix metro area. It covers an area of nearly 69 square miles (179 km2).
Gilbert's Heritage Court as viewed from Gilbert Road
Town Hall building at the Civic Center
Gilbert Historical Museum
A waterfront in the Val Vista Lakes community in Gilbert
Phoenix metropolitan area
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the city of Phoenix. It includes much of central Arizona. The United States Office of Management and Budget designates the area as the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), defining it as Maricopa and Pinal counties. It anchors the Arizona Sun Corridor megaregion along with the second-most populous metropolitan area in the state, the Tucson metropolitan area. The gross domestic product of the Phoenix metropolitan area was $255 billion in 2018, 16th highest amongst metro areas in the United States.
Aerial view of Downtown Phoenix in July 2011