Once primarily a mining and agricultural area, the Grand Canyon State developed a diversified economy after 1950 and in the early 21st century was an important producer of high-technology items, notably in the Phoenix region. Copper-mining, cattle-raising, cotton-growing and tourism are among the state's key industries.

Top tourist attractions include the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and the Old West town of Tombstone, site of the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral. Arizona also has one of the country's largest Native American Indian populations. In 1969, the first college on an Indian reservation, Navajo Community College (now Diné College), opened in Tsaile.

Famous Arizonans include Apache chiefs Cochise and Geronimo; Senator John McCain; jazz musician Charles Mingus; labor leader Cesar Chavez; and Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice.