High paying production jobs in Tucson, AZ with no experience

The best paid production occupations in Tucson, AZ that require neither a degree nor prior experience in a related job. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Tucson, AZ run 3.1% below the national average (2024), so a Tucson, AZ salary is worth about 1.03× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find production jobs in Tucson, AZ

OccupationMedian, Tucson, AZ · Employed

1Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers$73,930
High school diploma or equivalent
$58,690 – $90,850580
2Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$59,080
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,250 – $90,8401,340
3Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$58,390
High school diploma or equivalent
$42,020 – $72,710260
4Machinists$55,700
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,220 – $74,280590
5Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$51,150
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,660 – $78,090740
6Production Workers, All Other$49,890
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,170 – $75,760180
7Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$49,310
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,520 – $64,270240
8Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$46,290
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,680 – $90,550300
9Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$45,540
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,350 – $61,200590
10Butchers and Meat Cutters$44,970
No formal educational credential
$34,440 – $58,550320
11Printing Press Operators$42,900
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,080 – $55,830260
12Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$41,330
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,500 – $57,6902,150
13Bakers$37,590
No formal educational credential
$31,880 – $48,880530
14Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$37,410
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,790 – $48,480300
15Helpers--Production Workers$36,890
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,030 – $43,150160
16Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$36,180
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,910 – $61,910140
17Food Batchmakers$34,680
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,580 – $49,070130
18Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$34,450
No formal educational credential
$31,110 – $36,360440

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianTucson, AZ	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems AssemblersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$73,930	$58,690 – $90,850	580
2	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,080	$39,250 – $90,840	1,340
3	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$58,390	$42,020 – $72,710	260
4	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$55,700	$38,220 – $74,280	590
5	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$51,150	$38,660 – $78,090	740
6	Production Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,890	$37,170 – $75,760	180
7	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,310	$39,520 – $64,270	240
8	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,290	$31,680 – $90,550	300
9	Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and FinishersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,540	$34,350 – $61,200	590
10	Butchers and Meat CuttersNo formal educational credential	$44,970	$34,440 – $58,550	320
11	Printing Press OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$42,900	$33,080 – $55,830	260
12	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$41,330	$34,500 – $57,690	2,150
13	BakersNo formal educational credential	$37,590	$31,880 – $48,880	530
14	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,410	$33,790 – $48,480	300
15	Helpers--Production WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,890	$31,030 – $43,150	160
16	Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,180	$31,910 – $61,910	140
17	Food BatchmakersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$34,680	$30,580 – $49,070	130
18	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$34,450	$31,110 – $36,360	440

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Tucson, AZ. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Tucson, AZ to rank honestly.

High paying production jobs in Tucson, AZ with no experience

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