Tucson, AZ (population: 551,067) has forty-two video game design schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. University of California-Irvine, the highest ranked school in this group with a video game design program, has a total student population of 27,142. It is the 49th highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Video Game Design students from Tucson schools who go on to become video game designers, game developers, video game developers, video game engineers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 495,500 people working as computer software engineers, applications alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $90,170. Also, Computer software engineers, systems software make on average $96,620 per year and there are about 385,200 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Tucson area alone, there are 2,890 employed computer software engineers, systems software earning an average salary of $85,190. Computer software engineers, applications in this area earn $89,080/yr and there are 1,090 employed.
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. Thus, about 3 out of every 1000 jobs in Tucson are held by computer software engineers, applications, and 8/1000 are held by computer software engineers, systems software.
Of the 42 video game design schools with a 500-mile radius of Tucson, only 20 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Collins College comes out as the most expensive ($43,351/yr) for video game design students, with Mt San Antonio College as the lowest, reported at only $2,897/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 |