AZ — TUCSON, AZ

HVAC-R Technician apprenticeships in Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ is the 68th-most populous metro in the US. Here is what working as an hvac-r technician looks like locally.

Updated April 24, 2026

KEY FACTS — TUCSON, AZ

Tucson: ~154 of 1.5K (~11%) · market pressure 65/100 — High pressure.

HVAC-R Technician earning $100K+ annually in Tucson
~154 of 1.5K (~11%) ±53

Confidence: low. Annual labor earnings (W-2 wages + self-employment), not OEWS hourly-wage extrapolations.

Source: Census ACS 2024 5-year PUMS (state-rate projection onto metro OEWS employment).

OEWS six-figure baseline (hvac-r technician)
~11 of 1.5K (~0.8%)

Confidence: high. Log-normal fit residual is within tolerance.

Source: BLS OEWS.

Market pressure score (hvac-r technician, Tucson)
65/100 — High pressure

Confidence: low. Composite of projected annual openings, projected growth, and current $100K+ earnings rate. Not a direct vacancy count.

Source: Projections Central data; score computed by Prentice.

Bachelor’s+ in the Tucson labor force
247K

Source: Census ACS 2022 5-year.

Competitive ratio ($100K+ earners / bachelor’s+)
6.2 per 10k

A framing, not a forecast. See methodology.

Numerator: ACS PUMS $100K+ annual earners.

Auto-compiled from Arizona editorial + Tucson, AZ labor data. Spot an error?

Tucson, AZ is one of Arizona's largest labor markets for hvac-r technicians. It is the 68th-largest metro area in the United States by population. This page collects what adults switching into a career as an hvac-r technician inside the Tucson metro need first: how local pay compares to the state, what the available labor-market data says about six-figure work, and which statewide programs and licensing rules apply locally.

Tucson, AZ hvac-r technicians earn a median of $50,050 (BLS OEWS Tucson MSA, May 2024). For Arizona context, statewide pay runs from $18/hr at entry to $28/hr at the state median and $43/hr at the experienced end. Statewide headline: $58K avg salary. The Tucson metro is smaller than the state's largest; local wages may run above or below the state median depending on sector mix.

In the Tucson metro, estimated six-figure hvac-r technician jobs: ~11 of 1.5K (~0.8%). Confidence: high. Log-normal fit residual is within tolerance. ACS 2024 5-year PUMS estimates ~154 $100K+ annual earners (~11% of employed hvac-r technicians, ACS PUMS WAGP+SEMP). Projections Central long-term pressure score: 65/100 (High, low confidence). Bachelor's-plus in the metro labor force: 247K (ACS 2022 5-year). For statewide context: Arizona shows ~111 of 11K (~1%). Sources: BLS OEWS, Census ACS PUMS, Projections Central, Census ACS.

Statewide hvac-r technician programs and employer-sponsored paths are listed on the Arizona programs page; none are flagged as metro-exclusive. Metro program and association references are inherited from sourced state pages unless a metro-exclusive entity is explicitly sourced. Treat them as orientation, not a complete local inventory, and verify current intake details with the statewide source or sponsor before relying. Licensing is set at the state level: Arizona rules apply in the Tucson metro unless a local authority says otherwise. Metro pages use state-level licensing and program context unless a city, county, or sponsor rule is explicitly sourced. Verify current licensing, local add-ons, and sponsor requirements with the official state or local authority before relying. Expect a 60-90 minute drive radius for hvac-r technician program sites that pull from the Tucson metro; rural applicants commonly enroll through the nearest larger MSA when local employer-sponsored slots are scarce.

HVAC-R TECHNICIAN PAY SNAPSHOT — TUCSON, AZ

$50,050 (OEWS MSA-level median)

Source: BLS OEWS MSA cross-industry estimates. Where MSA-level data is suppressed or unpublished we fall back to the state median and label it explicitly.

Programs across Arizona

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