Named for a scenic vista from ancient Greece, Tempe is a very modern city. The heart of Tempe is Arizona State University, a major college that draws over 50,000 students to the area. Although Tempe reached the limit of its borders in 1974, the city remains vital and vibrant through a constant process of new development and investment in city infrastructure.
The city of Tempe can be found south of Scottsdale and east of Phoenix. Three freeways, the 202 Red Mountain, the 60 Superstition and the 101 Pima, cross through Tempe, making it a major hub for traffic in the greater Phoenix area. Tempe is a college town, with much of the land here given up to businesses which serve young, active adults and the college itself. Almost all of Tempe is zoned for commercial and residential use.
Tempe is largely based around a service economy, and the largest employers here reflect that. Examples include JP Morgan Chase Bank, Motorola, State Farm Insurance, Medtronics Microelectronics and the airline US Airways. People can fly into Tempe, put their money in the bank, buy cell phones and electronics, and then insure all their new stuff.
The major economic sectors of Tempe revolve around business, aerospace, biotech, high technology, retail and tourism. Major players in the business field include JP Morgan Chase Bank and Wells Fargo Loan Services. The aerospace industry is growing in this town thanks to Triumph and US Airways. The local biotech firms are Medtronics and Orthologic. For high technology, Tempe is home to Motorola, Microchip Technology and Calence.
The Job Market is Always Changing
A recent job search of the Tempe market discovered over 700 available jobs, in all sorts of fields. The top-ranking fields were customer service, information technology and management. The major employers found in the search were Edward Jones, a financial company, Calence in the technology sector and Arizona State University.
When the job search was expanded to the closest cities, the number of available positions rose to several thousand. The major fields were health care, management and skilled trades. Tempe is tightly-connected to the other cities in the Phoenix-Metro area, so a commute to the city next door is practical and common for most workers in the area. There are always opportunities for skilled and unskilled employees in Tempe.
Tempe is a Young and Vital Community
With a college as the major draw to the area, many workers in Tempe hold degrees. Nearly 40% of the workforce has earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to the 27% average for the US as a whole. As a result of the student-oriented economy, the median household income is somewhat lower than the national average at roughly $42,000. Likewise, the population is also rather young compared to other local cities.