Drexel Heights is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 27,749 at the 2010 census. The area is said to be named after financier Francis Anthony Drexel, the father of Saint Katharine Drexel. Drexel is said to have owned property in the Drexel Heights area and eastward during the late 19th century, although no proof has ever been found that he owned land in the area. Francis A. Drexel died in 1885.