($1,701) Movers From Missoula, MT to Tucson, AZ

What to know before moving from Missoula to Tucson

Moving from Missoula to Tucson comes with exciting new opportunities — but also higher living costs. Since Tucson is generally more expensive than Missoula, it’s important to plan ahead and budget carefully for the change.

Check out how the two cities compare so you know what to expect before you relocate:

• Rent prices in Tucson are 2% lower than in Missoula, which means you’ll have more money in your pocket each month.
• In terms of homeownership, you’ll be able to get more for your money in Tucson.
  Home prices in Tucson are 39.9% lower than in Missoula.
• Income in Tucson is 4.3% higher than in Missoula, so you could earn more for doing the same job. The top employers in Tucson include University of Arizona, Raytheon Technologies, and State of Arizona.
• Be sure to budget for higher bills in Tucson, since the cost of living for a single person in Tucson is 18.8% higher than in Missoula. This includes routine expenses like utilities, groceries, clothing, and transportation.
• If you’re moving your family to Tucson, keep in mind that your living expenses could increase. The cost of living for a family in Tucson is 3.6% higher than in Missoula.
• The unemployment rate in Tucson is 68.18% higher than in Missoula.
• You’ll spend more on retail and restaurants in Tucson, since the city’s sales taxes in Tucson are 8.70% higher than in Missoula.
• One perk of moving to Tucson is paying less in state income taxes, which are 62.96% lower than in Missoula.

To put this in perspective, you would need around $3,565.39 in Tucson to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $3,000.00 in Missoula.

How life is different in Missoula vs. Tucson

• The population of Tucson is about 598% greater than Missoula, so you may find more to see and do in your new surroundings. Of course, with more people can also come increased competition for jobs and housing.
• Your access to buses, shuttles, trams, or trains in Tucson will be about the same as it currently is in Missoula. The cities share a similar public transportation score, which means their transit systems are comparable in terms of how connected they are, how often they provide service, and how close they are to jobs, housing, retail and food stores, and other important locations.
• You’ll find Tucson to be about as walkable as Missoula. The two cities have similar walkability scores of 43 and 45 respectively out of 100 in terms of how close housing is to businesses, recreational facilities, and jobs.
• If cycling is your thing, Tucson is considered more bike-friendly than Missoula in terms of designated lanes and connectivity and how many residents opt to commute on two wheels rather than by car. Tucson has a bike-friendliness score of 66 out of 100, while Missoula is rated as 60 out of 100.
• The crime rate in Tucson is higher than in Missoula, so you may want to exercise a little extra caution as you're acclimating to your new location. While the crime index is 54.43 in Tucson, it is 33.27 in Missoula. With this index, the lower the score, the better, since it indicates a city’s crime levels.
• You may want to exercise more caution as you’re getting used to your new surroundings in Tucson. With a crime index of 45.57, Tucson ranks lower in overall safety than Missoula, whose index is Missoula's 66.73. The safety index measures how safe people in a city feel about walking alone, both during the day and at night, as well as data on muggings, theft, vandalism, and other instances of petty crime.
• The air quality in Tucson and Missoula is generally the same (Good). Cities with good to moderate ratings have clean or acceptable air quality, with the possibility of small pollutants affecting people with certain health conditions like asthma. Anything beyond the moderate rate means increased impact on residents.