Tucson, AZ (population: 551,067) has twelve jewelry schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. Northern Arizona University, the highest ranked school in this group with a jewelry program, has a total student population of 23,597. It is the 225th highest ranked school in the USA and the highest in the state of Arizona.
Jewelry students from Tucson schools who go on to become jewelers, jewelry designers, jewelry makers, jewelry repairers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 23,410 people working as jewelers and precious stone and metal workers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $36,620. Also, Craft artists make on average $33,070 per year and there are about 5,380 of them employed in the US today.
Tucson lies in Pima county, which is one of the 15 counties in Arizona. Overall, the Tucson area has 362,000 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $20/hr average worker wage, and a $40,870 average annual salary.
Of the 12 jewelry schools with a 500-mile radius of Tucson, only 7 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising-Los Angeles comes out as the most expensive ($27,329/yr) for jewelry students, with Cerritos College as the lowest, reported at only $3,650/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Tucson |
| Sierra Vista | AZ | 44,234 | 0 | - | 0 | 55.0 miles |
| Casa Grande | AZ | 47,388 | 1 | 16.7022 | 3 | 68.8 miles |
| Maricopa | AZ | 53,723 | 0 | - | 0 | 90.0 miles |
| Gilbert | AZ | 243,090 | 0 | - | 0 | 93.1 miles |
| Chandler | AZ | 258,122 | 5 | 22.1433 | 88 | 95.1 miles |
| Mesa | AZ | 474,115 | 6 | 20.6791 | 210 | 97.8 miles |