Cost of living in Tucson, AZ
The Tucson, AZ metro area (1,080,149 people) ranks #89 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
See all 149 cities
Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Tucson with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Tucson to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Phoenix, AZ, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Tucson: $83,600
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $83,600 in Tucson, AZ to match $90,000 in Phoenix, AZ ($6,400 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in Arizona, so state income tax is the same; neither city levies a resident income tax.
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Arizona, its principal state. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in Tucson
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Tucson
In this fixed example, one single filer earning a $70,000 W-2 salary keeps $56,728 after 2026 federal tax ($6,570), Social Security and Medicare ($5,355) and Arizona income tax ($1,348). The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Housing
| Measure | Tucson area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,300/mo |
| Median home value | $349,500 |
| Median property tax | $2,276/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $2,194 |
| Median household income | $72,067 |
Climate and jobs in Tucson
In the Tucson area the average January low is 41°F and the average July high 100°F, and the area has about 158 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.3% in 2025, the same as the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $47,760 a year, 6% below the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 41°F |
| July high | 100°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 158 a year |
| Precipitation | 11 in a year |
| Snowfall | 0.1 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $47,760 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 389,630 | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Tucson International Airport station (USW00023160). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Tucson
Our modeled retiree budget is about $3,071 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,650 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Tucson. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Tucson
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Tucson area is 99.1 of 100 (very high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $510 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Arizona.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Tucson?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $74,400 in Tucson matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Arizona state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $52,000, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $94,038.
Is Tucson expensive?
The Tucson metro area's price level is 96.9 (U.S. = 100), #89 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 91.8, 8% below the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Tucson?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Tucson had a net gain of about 690 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Tucson?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Tucson area (Tucson International Airport weather station), the average January low is 41°F and the average July high 100°F. The area has about 158 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 11 inches of precipitation a year and almost no snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Tucson?
The Tucson metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.3% in 2025, the same as the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $47,760 a year in May 2025, 6% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Tucson?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 99.1 out of 100 (very high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are heat wave, wildfire, riverine flooding.
Compare Tucson with other cities
Moving from Tucson to…
Moving to Tucson from…
Cities with similar prices
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Moving from Arizona
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing.