Tucson, AZ — Wages, Rent, Taxes & Livability by the Numbers

Tucson pairs lower housing costs with Arizona's flat 2.5% income tax, but the relocation math still turns on neighborhood and job field. In the Tucson MSA, the May 2025 mean wage was $30.38 an hour, below the U.S. mean of $33.54. Management averaged $57.38, healthcare practitioners and technical jobs $50.14, and computer and mathematical jobs $48.27. Arizona's 2025 individual income tax is a flat 2.5% with no Tucson local wage tax identified on the state city-tax profile. Tucson's retail transaction privilege tax is 2.6% on top of Arizona's 5.6% state rate; stacked with Pima County's local rate, the combined sales tax lands near 8.7%, while Tax Foundation's Arizona average combined rate is 8.52%. SmartAsset lists Pima County's effective property-tax rate at 0.65% with no year on the page, so homeowners should check the exact district bill. 12345

Housing spreads widely by neighborhood. Apartment List's October 9, 2025 Tucson cost-of-living page puts citywide median rent at $874 for a one-bedroom and $1,122 for a two-bedroom. Direct Apartment List neighborhood pages last updated August 27–28, 2026 list average active-listing rents of about $780/$970 in Dietz, $890/$1,220 in Menlo Park, $930/$1,170 in Midvale Park, $1,020/$1,230 in Limberlost, and $1,210/$1,240 in Miramonte. Those neighborhood averages sit outside the channel's requested 2024–25 data window and are labeled as current averages, not medians. The distance labels are approximate straight-line miles from Downtown Tucson for orientation; they are not driving distances. 67891011

Tucson reported a 21.9-minute mean travel time to work in the 2020–2024 ACS. Walk Score's citywide snapshot gives the city a 43 Walk Score, 35 Transit Score, and 66 Bike Score, with Sun Tran buses plus streetcar service and roughly 39 bus lines and 2 light-rail / streetcar lines. Those mobility figures are live snapshots without a visible 2024–25 dataset year. U.S. News puts driving alone near 82% of Tucson workers. 121314

U.S. News lists Tucson at 5.3/10 overall, #461 in Best Places to Live, 6.3/10 on its Value Index, and 3.9/10 on its Job Market Index. The profile marks a $293,726 median home value under Housing Costs 2025, while the overall-score vintage remains unstated. Numbeo's August 27, 2026 quality-of-life update reports a 45.61 Safety Index; the June 7, 2026 crime page puts the level of crime at 66.32. Those Numbeo figures are perception data, not incident counts. Tucson can fit a renter chasing lower housing costs or a specialist salary under Arizona's flat tax, but summer heat, car-first mobility outside a few corridors, and neighborhood-level safety deserve an address-level check before a move. Next city: Buffalo, NY. 1516