Phoenix vs Tucson - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Phoenix	Tucson
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2340	$1940
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5236	$4568
🏠 One person rent	$1406	$1141
🏘️ Family rent	$2208	$1951
🍽️ Food expenses	$627	$577
🚐 Transport expenses	$153	$87.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4277	$3621
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	70	33
😀 Quality of life	91	82
🏙️ Population	1.61M	543K

The cost of living in Phoenix is 21% more expensive than in Tucson. Cities ranked 1184th and 2194th ($2340 vs $1940) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1035th and 1737th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Phoenix compared to 1.9 months in Tucson. Ranked 52nd vs 202nd best cities to live in the United States, and 181st vs 634th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Phoenix vs Tucson infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/phoenix/tucson.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Phoenix vs Tucson infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/phoenix/tucson" target="_blank">Phoenix vs Tucson - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Phoenix vs Tucson

Prices for goods and services in Phoenix and Tucson are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Phoenix	Tucson
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.1	$16.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76	$65.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.2	$11.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.04	$5.9
☕ Cappuccino	$6.3	$5.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.7	$2.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1511	$1121
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1104	$891
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2337	$2011
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1799	$1584
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$141
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$230	$219
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.7	$62.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.48%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4621	$2738
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3554	$2462
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.73	$2.44
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.2	$38.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.93	$0.87
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$0.87
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.51	$2.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.34	$4.51
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.16	$4.47
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$11.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$10.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$3.9
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.68	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$3.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.76	$3.67
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$2.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.58	$1.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.63	$2.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$12.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$3.37
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.2	$9.42
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.18	$9.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.48	$3.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$3.36
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.12	$1.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.1	$32.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$114	$93.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.6	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$45.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.2	$90.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1277	$1112
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16644	$15639

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Phoenix

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Glendale	$1977
14 km or 9 mi	Scottsdale	$2332
16 km or 10 mi	Peoria	$2344
17 km or 10 mi	Tempe	$2448
25 km or 15 mi	El Mirage	$2322
26 km or 16 mi	Mesa	$2417
27 km or 17 mi	Avondale	$2523
28 km or 17 mi	Goodyear	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Surprise	$2353
33 km or 21 mi	Chandler	$2349
33 km or 21 mi	Gilbert	$2447
33 km or 21 mi	Fountain Hills	$2371
51 km or 31 mi	Queen Creek	$3031
51 km or 32 mi	Apache Junction	$2491
51 km or 32 mi	Buckeye	$2365
53 km or 33 mi	Maricopa	$2320
78 km or 48 mi	Casa Grande	$2403
84 km or 52 mi	Florence	$2466
118 km or 73 mi	Prescott	$2348
122 km or 76 mi	Prescott Valley	$2341
155 km or 96 mi	Marana	$2084
160 km or 99 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
165 km or 102 mi	Casas Adobes	$2021
181 km or 112 mi	Tucson	$1940
190 km or 118 mi	Flagstaff	$2598
205 km or 128 mi	Sahuarita	$2046
232 km or 144 mi	Lake Havasu	$2021
234 km or 145 mi	Blythe	$2757
254 km or 158 mi	Yuma	$1760
259 km or 161 mi	Kingman	$1883
264 km or 164 mi	Nogales	$2095
268 km or 166 mi	Nogales	$727
276 km or 171 mi	San Luis	$1911
276 km or 172 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$965
278 km or 173 mi	Sierra Vista	$1612
290 km or 180 mi	Bullhead	$1855
313 km or 194 mi	Caborca	$881
327 km or 203 mi	Brawley	$2751
330 km or 205 mi	Mexicali	$945
332 km or 207 mi	Calexico	$2766

Cities near Tucson

Distance	City	Cost of living
16 km or 9.9 mi	Casas Adobes	$2021
23 km or 14 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
26 km or 16 mi	Marana	$2084
33 km or 20 mi	Sahuarita	$2046
97 km or 60 mi	Nogales	$2095
97 km or 60 mi	Sierra Vista	$1612
100 km or 62 mi	Nogales	$727
101 km or 62 mi	Florence	$2466
106 km or 66 mi	Casa Grande	$2403
133 km or 83 mi	Queen Creek	$3031
140 km or 87 mi	Maricopa	$2320
145 km or 90 mi	Apache Junction	$2491
148 km or 92 mi	Chandler	$2349
149 km or 93 mi	Gilbert	$2447
157 km or 98 mi	Mesa	$2417
164 km or 102 mi	Agua Prieta	$813
164 km or 102 mi	Tempe	$2448
169 km or 105 mi	Scottsdale	$2332
171 km or 106 mi	Fountain Hills	$2371
181 km or 112 mi	Phoenix	$2340
189 km or 118 mi	Avondale	$2523
190 km or 118 mi	Goodyear	$2481
193 km or 120 mi	Glendale	$1977
195 km or 121 mi	Peoria	$2344
201 km or 125 mi	Buckeye	$2365
202 km or 126 mi	El Mirage	$2322
204 km or 126 mi	Caborca	$881
206 km or 128 mi	Surprise	$2353
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott Valley	$2341
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott	$2348
337 km or 210 mi	Flagstaff	$2598
347 km or 216 mi	Hermosillo	$982
350 km or 217 mi	Nuevo Casas Grandes	$850
350 km or 217 mi	Yuma	$1760
361 km or 225 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$965
362 km or 225 mi	San Luis	$1911
376 km or 233 mi	Blythe	$2757
391 km or 243 mi	Las Cruces	$1602
403 km or 250 mi	Lake Havasu	$2021
419 km or 260 mi	Gallup	$2245