Tucson rents and rental comps

The median asking rent across Tucson, AZ sits at $1,226/month, pulled from active rental listings in 17 zip codes. That's down 13.9% from a year ago.

Rents aren't uniform across the city. ZIP 85756 tops the list at $1,850/month. ZIP 85712 comes in lowest at $895/month. That's a 107% spread between the top and bottom zip codes, which is wide. City-wide averages won't tell you much about a specific property here.

A 2-bedroom rents for $1,250/month at the median. 1-bedrooms run about $899. 3-bedrooms come in around $1,782.

Average days on market sits at 21 days. Pace is steady.

Rent-to-price math is tight in Tucson. The gross figure sits at about 4.7% ($1,226/month against $314,900 median price). Most investors here are betting on appreciation, not monthly cash flow.

HUD's Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in the Tucson metro is $1,540/month. Asking rents come in about 20% below the federal benchmark, which can make Section 8 properties competitive here.

Tucson is Phoenix's cheaper little sibling. The University of Arizona is the main economic driver, bringing a large student renter population and associated research employment. Raytheon and other defense contractors have a significant local presence. Sam Hughes, the Catalina Foothills, and areas near the university are premium. South Tucson and the west side are cheaper. Arizona's landlord-friendly laws apply. Lower entry points than Phoenix, and the rent-to-price ratios can be better. The limitation is concentration. If the university or defense spending contracts, you'd feel it. For now, an affordable market with solid fundamentals and less investor competition than Phoenix.

These numbers are city-wide averages. If you're pricing a specific property in Tucson, pull comps from the same zip code. The spread is usually bigger than people expect.