Recruiter salary in Tucson, AZ

Pay in Tucson against Arizona and the US

The middle half of recruiters in Tucson earns $50,800–$82,240. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $105,840, only 2.3 times the bottom tenth, against 2.7 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($71,130) is 11% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $31,440 wide, against $36,450 across Arizona and $40,770 nationally: employers in Tucson pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a recruiter here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $13,150 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $18,290, or about $23,600 once benefits are added. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $75,940 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Tucson, and the Arizona statewide median of $71,390 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Tucson

At the $63,950 median, a local hire costs about $82,516 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,566 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for recruiters we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Tucson

Of the 17 roles we track in Tucson, this one ranks #4 by median pay, between executive assistants ($65,510) and sales development representatives ($62,900). Project Coordinator is the highest at $91,500.

Measured against the US median, recruiters rank #15 of the 17 roles we track in Tucson (-15.8%), between payroll specialists (-15.7%) and paralegals (-16.6%). The typical role here is at -10.1%, so, measured against the US, recruiters cost less in Tucson than the area's general pay level would suggest. Recruiters hold 6.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Tucson, 5.8% across Arizona and 5.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Arizona

Across the 8 areas of Arizona with data for this job, the median runs from $60,500 in the Arizona nonmetro area to $78,450 in Sierra Vista-Douglas, a gap of $17,950 a year. The one area in Arizona with more recruiters, Phoenix-Mesa, AZ ($74,640), also pays more.

Tucson against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Tucson is #68 of 521 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside Arizona, Kenosha and Bozeman pay just above Tucson and Altoona and Bangor just below. All four are within $130 a year of the median in Tucson. Of the three markets with about as many recruiters, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.