Hiring an environmental engineer in Tucson, AZ

Employers in the Tucson, AZ area pay environmental engineers a median of $78,650, with the middle half of the market between $77,220 and $101,250. Tucson residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $92,220, which is 17% above what the metro pays for this role.

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What does an environmental engineer earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Tucson, AZ area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$77,220
Median	$78,650
75th percentile	$101,250

Half of environmental engineers in this area earn between $77,220 and $101,250. A band set below $77,220 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Tucson residents earn

$92,220

Median earnings of Tucson residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 5,807 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 17% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

Residents here already earn more than this role pays, so your offer is competing with whatever they currently commute to.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.
Advise corporations or government agencies of procedures to follow in cleaning up contaminated sites to protect people and the environment.
Develop proposed project objectives and targets and report to management on progress in attaining them.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-2081.

Tools and technologies in demand

Autodesk AutoCAD, Business software applications, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, C++.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Tucson?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 30.2% of Tucson adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Tucson commute runs 22.2 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 12.4% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Pima County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 3,750 and turns over 6.7% a quarter, with 325 hires against 324 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $7,663 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about environmental engineers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $15,730 to $23,595 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

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