Mesa, AZ (population: 474,115) has four audio schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Prescott College, the highest ranked school in this group with an audio program, has a total student population of 1,119. It is the 521st highest ranked school in the USA and the 2nd highest in the state of Arizona (#1 is Northern Arizona University).
Audio students from Mesa schools who go on to become audio professionals, audio production engineers, audio engineers, audio recording professionals, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 46,070 people working as audio and video equipment technicians alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $42,450. Also, Sound engineering technicians make on average $53,940 per year and there are about 15,560 of them employed in the US today.
Mesa lies in Maricopa county, which is one of the 15 counties in Arizona. Overall, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area has 1,763,410 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $20/hr average worker wage, and a $41,930 average annual salary.
Of the 4 audio schools with a 100-mile radius of Mesa, only 3 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Prescott College comes out as the most expensive ($25,284/yr) for audio students, with Arizona State University as the lowest, reported at only $9,603/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Mesa |
| Gilbert | AZ | 243,090 | 0 | - | 0 | 6.3 miles |
| Tempe | AZ | 181,658 | 9 | 21.5079 | 137 | 11.2 miles |
| Chandler | AZ | 258,122 | 5 | 22.1433 | 88 | 11.2 miles |
| Scottsdale | AZ | 241,464 | 7 | 18.4016 | 124 | 20.1 miles |
| Phoenix | AZ | 1,635,783 | 32 | 17.3678 | 810 | 20.8 miles |
| Glendale | AZ | 255,662 | 10 | 18.0628 | 241 | 28.7 miles |
| Maricopa | AZ | 53,723 | 0 | - | 0 | 30.7 miles |
| Avondale | AZ | 89,387 | 5 | 24.8339 | 71 | 33.5 miles |
| Peoria | AZ | 168,424 | 5 | 16.2489 | 161 | 34.3 miles |
| Casa Grande | AZ | 47,388 | 1 | 16.7022 | 3 | 36.7 miles |
| Surprise | AZ | 104,876 | 0 | - | 0 | 45.2 miles |
| Buckeye | AZ | 61,572 | 0 | - | 0 | 49.1 miles |
| Prescott Valley | AZ | 41,046 | 1 | 8.12951 | 6 | 88.8 miles |
| Prescott | AZ | 44,035 | 4 | 31.39 | 279 | 90.0 miles |
| Tucson | AZ | 551,067 | 19 | 23.0062 | 495 | 97.8 miles |