Restaurants and food trucks.
Pima County food-facility health permits run about $236–$416 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $60–$480. Confirm the exact amount with Pima County Health Department - Consumer Health & Food Safety before you budget.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when Pima County Health Department - Consumer Health & Food Safety issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 5.3% change in establishments since 2022 (1,768 → 1,862).
The average foodservice wage here is $2,076 below the Arizona average ($25,212); Arizona has about 13,666 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
Temporary Food Establishment (<15 days, 1 event) $60; charitable non-profit $30; annual temporary concessionaire $360; seasonal (4-month) $120. Re-inspection: probationary/corrective $190; inspection upon request $120. Confirm exact annual restaurant tier against full fee-table PDF
Turnaround: Typically 5-10 business days; plan review package (menu, floor plan, equipment specs, commissary agreement) must be approved before permit application
Pima uses descriptive ratings (Excellent/Good/Satisfactory/Needs Improvement/Probation), not A/B/C; results posted online.
County requires a signed commissary kitchen agreement before issuing a mobile food establishment permit; Contact Consumer Health & Food Safety 520-724-7908
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
The government permit & plan-review fees below total roughly $526–$1,126 for Pima County:
That’s the paperwork only. Add buildout, equipment, deposits and licenses with the cost-to-open calculator. Fees change — confirm current amounts with the department.
Comparison uses the lowest published annual restaurant-permit figure in each county; confirm your exact tier with the department.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
Plus building, fire, and business-license fees that vary locally — use the cost calculators and the checklist below to budget the full stack.
A code-compliant kitchen in Pima County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
| Building / plans | City of Tucson – Planning & Development Services Dept (PDSD) · 520-791-5550 |
| Fire marshal | Tucson Fire Department – Fire Prevention (fire plan review via PDSD) |
| Zoning / planning | City of Tucson PDSD – Zoning / Planning & Zoning Applications · 520-791-5550 |
| Sewer / grease | Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Dept – FOG / Industrial Wastewater Control |
| Business license | Arizona has no general state business license; City of Tucson business license plus TPT registration with the AZ Dept of Revenue |
food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. A grease interceptor sized to the locally adopted plumbing code is required, with a municipal sewer-authority FOG discharge permit.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Pima County Health Department - Consumer Health & Food Safety (contact above).
Hood fire suppression: commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Type I hood fire suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the fire code adopted by the local fire authority. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: An approved backflow preventer with a certified annual test is required by the local water purveyor. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| caterer | — | Caterer permit offered (application via Consumer Health & Food Safety); no separate operating fee itemized, reviewed as fixed food establishment |
| food processing/wholesale | — | Limited Food Manufacturer permit offered; 'Ice and Bottling Plant' listed on fee schedule (fee marked * / not shown) |
| pushcart/limited operation | — | Mobile Food Establishment, Push Cart (Open Unpackaged Foods; and Pre-packaged Foods Only) on fee schedule; fee marked * |
| temporary/seasonal/special-event | $60 (temporary, <15 consecutive days; $30 charitable non-profit); $120 seasonal four-month ($60 charitable); $360 annual temporary event concessionaire ($180 charitable) | Fees from Consumer Health & Food Safety Fee Schedule |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Pima County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →