3.19/5
90 reviews
Photo by Jim Witkowski via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Tucson, AZ

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great

downtown

hiking

activities

summer

cost

outdoors

fun

outdoor

hot

good

nomad

nomads

car

mexico

food

bike

tons

imo

Tucson is a solid choice for digital nomads who prioritize affordability and easy access to outdoor activities like hiking and rock climbing. The city has a small-town feel while still offering basics like good food options—especially Mexican cuisine—and some enjoyable breweries. There’s a network of bike paths and plenty of scenic trails around town, making it appealing for those who value nature and staying active.

The climate is predominantly warm and dry, although it becomes extremely hot in the summer, which can be uncomfortable. The annual monsoon rains are welcome and add variety to the weather. Safety is generally good, with no significant concerns mentioned. Tucson is quieter compared to popular nomad destinations and lacks a vibrant community of younger digital nomads or non-stop social activities. This may be ideal for those seeking solitude and calm but less appealing for those looking for networking or an energetic scene.

For those with a car, its location makes it easy to road trip to surrounding areas like the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, and even Mexico. It's a good spot for a more laid-back, outdoorsy lifestyle without breaking the bank.

AI-generated summary of reviews
7 months ago

I agree with one of the previous reviews. Tucson is a great place for outdoor activities, hiking, rock climbing, etc. Yes it's hot in the summer, but monsoon rains are magnificent when they come. The cost of living is lower than a lot of other areas in the country, and as a woman I've never felt particularly unsafe.

4 years ago

I’m not sure about how accurate nomadslist really is. When I search for locations in the USA with good hiking what comes up first? Atlanta. Second is NYC. Huh?
I think Tucson is a great city for the nomad who likes a bit of quiet. It’s small enough to be cozy but big enough that you can find everything you need. Want to party non stop and socialize with other nomads? Probably not your number one choice. Want good weather most of the year and lower cost of living? Love hiking, nature and being outdoors? This is a great location. Summer is HOT. Avoid. Otherwise it’s mostly sunny and dry. If you have a car and like road trips on your time off you can go north to the Grand Canyon and on to Utah or east to New Mexico. California and Mexico are short drives away too.
There’s some great food especially Mexican food and a few really fun breweries. There are bike paths around town and tons of trails for hiking.
Actually ignore all I said. I like having Tucson to myself! Lots of silver haired snowbirds know about it but the younger nomads haven’t really figured it out yet.

5 years ago

IMO Tucson is a great nomad city! Cost of living is insanely low even to live downtown, so assuming you're being paid by a company based elsewhere your money will go a lot further in Tucson. Recently three new coworking spaces opened downtown, which has been cool to see, as it feels like the city is starting to become supportive of all the remote workers living here. Plus it's an outdoors paradise so there's that!

7 years ago

I'm not sure where all the low ratings on "fun" and "nightlife" are coming from: there is tons to do here wrt outdoors AND cultural activities, and it's much easier to get to it than in a larger city.

If you are carfree, public transit is available and reliable, as are bikeshares. Cabs are pricey, and I don't have a clue about Uber because I don't use it.

Stay on the west side if you can, near the mountains.

7 years ago

Unless you are here in summer (mid-May through end of Sep) when temps are 100F/38C, this city is one of the best in the US IMO. It is easy to get around without a car if you live near the downtown (and there is a cheap bike share available). Internet is fast, nightlife is great and outdoor activities (hiking in mountains, road/mountain biking) are abundant. Living outside of downtown (outside of the neighborhoods labeled as South Tucson and Bario Viejo on the map) can turn into dull urban sprawl but the housing is cheaper there. The Scores indicate bad scores for fun & nightlife--the only way this is true if you are outside of downtown.

7 years ago

Tucson is great! That is all.

8 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Warm all year

✅ Very affordable

✅ Great for hiking and outdoors

✅ Good food and breweries

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm in the spring

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here a lot

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

❌ Very hot in summer

❌ Not a social hub for nomads

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Not very safe

❌ Not much to do

❌ Not many Nomads.com members go here

❌ Difficult to make friends

❌ Not safe for women

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

17°C / 63°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

18°C / 64°F cool

25°C / 77°F warm

27°C / 81°F warm

31°C / 88°F hot

37°C / 99°F hot

38°C / 100°F hot

34°C / 93°F hot

25°C / 77°F warm

24°C / 75°F warm

19°C / 66°F mild

Real (median)

16°C / 61°F
cool

19°C / 66°F
mild

18°C / 64°F
cool

27°C / 81°F
warm

30°C / 86°F
very warm

34°C / 93°F
hot

33°C / 91°F
hot

35°C / 94°F
hot

32°C / 90°F
hot

26°C / 79°F
warm

24°C / 75°F
warm

19°C / 65°F
mild

Humidity

too dry
25%

too dry
24%

too dry
22%

too dry
13%

too dry
11%

too dry
13%

nice
51%

nice
45%

nice
46%

too dry
29%

too dry
24%

nice
44%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
30mm

dry
9mm

dry
20mm

dry
6mm

dry
2mm

dry
4mm

dry
18mm

dry
36mm

dry
26mm

dry
8mm

dry
1mm

dry
29mm

Cloud

pockets
11%

clear
7%

clear
4%

pockets
11%

pockets
30%

pockets
24%

pockets
15%

clear
8%

pockets
11%

pockets
17%

Air quality

clean
28 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
21 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
22 US AQI

clean
21 US AQI

clean
20 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

Sun

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

Remote workers

867 people

927 people

1,067 people

600 people

943 people

700 people

600 people

1,080 people

720 people

1,000 people

1,275 people

1,200 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Tucson's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

Help pick the best photos for Tucson and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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39pts

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$4,136 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

San Francisco, CA

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 17° 63° 16° 61°

✈️2h

$5,664 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 people

Austin, TX

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°

✈️2h

$3,829 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Mexico City

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 6° 43° 8° 46° AQI 38

✈️11h

$5,820 / mo

🌇 Also went here39 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 12° 54° 12° 53° AQI 38

✈️12h

$4,500 / mo

🌇 Also went here33 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 34° 93° 31° 88° 🥵 AQI 96 😷

✈️19h

$1,616 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.19/5 (Rank #324) 90 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍8 liked it 👎0 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	🧐 Very expensive: $4,269 / mo
📡 Internet	🚀 Super fast: 142 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Bad
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 23°C73°F (feels 23°C73°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 32%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😍 Very high: 90%
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 22 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Okay
🤝 Lack of racism*	Good
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very high: $4,817 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
🚶 Walkability	Okay
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Okay
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Good
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	North America
🚩 Country	United States
🗓️ Average trip length	14 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	142 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌤 23°C 73°F + 😊 Comfy (32%) = feels 23°C 73°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 22 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 Tipping	Yes, 15%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Connect
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	👍10% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	530,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$57,808 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 48% 👱‍♀️ 52%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 75% 👱‍♀️ 25%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Amazon
🏠 Apartment listings	Craigslist
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	United
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	United

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$4,269 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,714 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$5,028 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,437 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$2,178 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,676 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$920 / month
🏠 Median home price	$325,000
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$102 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$121 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$193 / month
🍛 Dinner	$19
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$2
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$6
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$5
👩‍🏫 International school	$11,667 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$18 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$5 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,352
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$30,278
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$71,127