AreaProfile

Tucson, Arizona

Area Profile

547,073 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Tucson, in Pima County.

43
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity139th of 139 published cities20
Growth100th of 134 published cities36
Housing affordability76th of 150 published cities67
Climate112th of 149 published cities63
Physical resilience129th of 150 published cities19
Access88th of 149 published cities95
Economic stability117th of 150 published cities44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.7% and the Opportunity signal places Tucson in the bottom 0%.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and avalanche.

A major airport is 5 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
547,073
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,073
Bottom 34% nationally
Density
2,259/sq mi
242.2 sq mi of land
Median age
34.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Pima County
Arizona
Metro area
Tucson, AZ
Nearest major airport
TUS
5 mi · Tucson Intl
Median home value
$266,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.7% is lower than 6% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 4.8% over the past year, to 244,425 employed residents.

31% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 71% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$944$57,073Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$668$32,537Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.9%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.6 minBottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher31.1%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment244,425Top 27%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.3%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-4.8%Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force259,266Top 27%June 2026
Labor force participation61.9%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$63,200Bottom 29%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,760Bottom 26%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.0%Top 3%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.7%Top 6%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/066.63.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202457k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $57,073 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Tucson, AZ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers12,130$83,610
Retail Salespersons11,100$34,530
Home Health and Personal Care Aides11,030$34,420
Registered Nurses10,120$94,110
Fast Food and Counter Workers9,980$31,690
Cashiers9,610$32,780

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,145 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
24.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,145
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$266,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.66Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate51.8%Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,521247,823Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$13$1,145Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,734$266,200Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.1%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.0%Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
36/ 100
Ranks 100 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 554,013 in 2024.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,431
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 32% nationally
Year over year
−3%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
45.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024554k541k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420252k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−14%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 100°F and January a low of 41°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 10.6 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TUCSON INTL AP, 5.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation10.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high100°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

19 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and avalanche.

WildfireElevated
Inland floodingHigh
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, hail, earthquake, strong wind, winter weather, drought, landslide, tornado, hurricane, cold wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 5 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tucson IntlTUS5 mi10,996 ft
Mesa GatewayIWA92 mi10,401 ft
Phoenix Sky Harbor IntlPHX111 mi11,489 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Tucson

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8571056,125$57,17542
8570554,700$37,19440
8570654,236$50,24841
8571951,833$42,24137
8571346,439$53,15242
8571142,558$56,12142