Living in Tucson

Desert landscape at sunset

Named one of the five top cities for millennials by Money magazine and home to the University of Arizona, Tucson provides many amenities of a large city but with a small town feel.

The university recently placed 46th among public institutions in U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORTS' BEST COLLEGES 2019 GUIDEBOOK—14 spots better than last year—and 106th among all universities, public and private, an 18-spot improvement over its 2018 ranking and the UA's highest appearance in almost 10 years.

The UA also was recognized in the FISKE GUIDE TO COLLEGES 2019 as one of the nation's top values in higher education in the guide's annual list of "Best Buy" schools. It is one of 20 colleges and universities in the United States, the only one in the Pacific 12 conference and just one of 10 public universities to qualify for the list.

The UA was spotlighted in The Princeton Review's 2017 edition of its "COLLEGES THAT PAY YOU BACK: THE 200 SCHOOLS THAT GIVE YOU THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR TUITION BUCK" annual issue—underscoring our commitment to educational value and post-college success. The university ranks in the top 100 among U.S. News & World Reports' 2017 BEST GLOBAL UNIVERSITIES. And Times Higher Education recognized the UA as one of the top 100 higher-education institutions in the world, ranking it as a global leader in research, education and innovation in its 2017 WORLD REPUTATION RANKINGS.

In other rankings, Tucson is:

 

Sites to See Downtown and Near UA

Nearby Attractions

Annual Events

Other Things to Do

Add an Accordion, if you need to condense the text under descriptive Headings. Follow the Heading Hierarchy!

Known as "The Old Pueblo," Tucson became part of the United States with the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1854. Its heritage offers a rich mix of Native American, Hispanic and U.S. cultures. The city — whose metropolitan population is about 1 million — lies in the Sonoran Desert between five mountain ranges, the Tucson, Catalina, Rincon, Santa Rita and Tortolita Mountains.

While winter snows and skiing can be found a 45-minute drive up to Mount Lemmon, the desert floor offers a year-round temperate climate with multiple opportunities to enjoy a variety of outdoor activities. Its proximity to wilderness areas, national forests, parks — including the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro National Parks — and other natural and historic sites of the Old West make day or weekend trips an opportunity for adventure for all.

Less than two hours in the car can take you from Tucson to Phoenix (the sixth largest U.S. city), Nogales (in Sonora, Mexico), or Tombstone, AZ—the town too tough to die and home of the infamous OK Corral. A four-hour drive will get you to Flagstaff or Sedona, Ariz., Las Cruces, N.M., or the beaches of Puerto Peñasco (aka Rocky Point), Mexico. And in about six hours driving, you can be in San Diego, El Paso, Albuquerque or the Grand Canyon.

You can also just stay home and enjoy the many festivals, concerts, fine dining, night life and entertainment, and other activities such as cycling, mountain biking, hiking, birding and more…