Tucson, AZ Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Tucson, AZ - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Tucson, AZ moved from $46,450 in May 2024 to $47,760 in May 2025 (+2.8%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Tucson, AZ sits -0.3 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Tucson, AZ
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education publishes $50,940 here versus $72,040 nationally (-29.3%; 3,320metro-area jobs). Next is Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education at $47,220 locally versus $63,970 nationally (-26.2%).
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$50,940 in Tucson, AZ sits 29.3% below the national Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education median of $72,040 (3,320 published local jobs).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$47,220 in Tucson, AZ sits 26.2% below the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (3,530 published local jobs).
- General and Operations Managers$83,610 in Tucson, AZ sits 21.0% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (12,130 published local jobs).
- Human Resources Specialists$63,950 in Tucson, AZ sits 15.8% below the national Human Resources Specialists median of $75,940 (2,130 published local jobs).
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Tucson, AZ; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 46060 · Tucson, AZ $62K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #149/528
- RPP-MID 96.9
- OCC-MOST 490 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $357K
- EMP-MIX Computer and…
- TREND-INLINE -0.3 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Atlantic City-Ha…
- BOOK-FULL 476 rows · May 2025
Read with Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ (+$18 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Tucson, AZ
Employment scale inside Tucson, AZ's top-pay list
Computer and Information Systems Managers and Sales Managers lead published employment inside Tucson, AZ's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 1,500 jobs · $151,520
- 2. Sales Managers 1,100 jobs · $138,880
- 3. Architectural and Engineering Managers 1,070 jobs · $159,610
- 4. Pharmacists 1,010 jobs · $147,420
- 5. Physicians, All Other 900 jobs · $357,070
- 6. Nurse Practitioners 820 jobs · $129,340
- 7. Marketing Managers 370 jobs · $129,570
- 8. Dentists, General 330 jobs · $182,200
- 9. General Internal Medicine Physicians 320 jobs · $264,320
- 10. Family Medicine Physicians 290 jobs · $227,940
- 11. Physician Assistants 290 jobs · $129,880
- 12. Veterinarians 250 jobs · $131,540
- 13. Computer Hardware Engineers 180 jobs · $129,340
- 14. Dermatologists 80 jobs · $231,030
- 15. Pediatricians, General 80 jobs · $183,400
- 16. Optometrists 80 jobs · $157,650
- 17. Psychiatrists 70 jobs · $257,650
- 18. Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers 60 jobs · $206,050
Occupations Tracked
490
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$62,306
employment-weighted, 476 complete rows
Top Salary
$357,070
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
96.9
3% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Tucson, AZ
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $357,070 |
| 2 | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons | $299,990 |
| 3 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $264,320 |
| 4 | Psychiatrists | $257,650 |
| 5 | Dentists, All Other Specialists | $254,650 |
| 6 | Dermatologists | $231,030 |
| 7 | Family Medicine Physicians | $227,940 |
| 8 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $206,050 |
| 9 | Chief Executives | $185,100 |
| 10 | Pediatricians, General | $183,400 |
| 11 | Dentists, General | $182,200 |
| 12 | Physicists | $171,190 |
| 13 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $159,610 |
| 14 | Optometrists | $157,650 |
| 15 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $151,520 |
| 16 | Pharmacists | $147,420 |
| 17 | Sales Managers | $138,880 |
| 18 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $138,560 |
| 19 | Purchasing Managers | $136,610 |
| 20 | Psychologists, All Other | $134,430 |
| 21 | Veterinarians | $131,540 |
| 22 | Physician Assistants | $129,880 |
| 23 | Marketing Managers | $129,570 |
| 24 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $129,340 |
| 25 | Nurse Practitioners | $129,340 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Tucson, AZ
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $30,580 |
| Driver/Sales Workers | $30,730 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $30,830 |
| Manicurists and Pedicurists | $30,870 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $31,410 |
| Animal Trainers | $31,410 |
| Parking Attendants | $31,530 |
| Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals | $31,670 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $31,690 |
| Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants | $31,790 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in AZ
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside AZ. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($62,306 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Tucson, AZ? ▼
Which published medians lead Tucson, AZ? ▼
What is the cost of living in Tucson, AZ? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Tucson, AZ come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Tucson, AZ wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Tucson, AZ at $357,070/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $62,306 adjusts to about $64,302 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 96.9. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for AZ before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.