Arizona | 2023 State Drone Commerce Scorecard

Arizona ranks fourth in its readiness for commercial drone services

Rank: 4 (tied)

Arizona tied with Georgia and North Carolina for fourth place in the 2023 State Drone Commerce Scorecard rankings. The state scored 68 out of 100 possible points in how prepared it is for commercial drone services.

The Six Factors Contributing to the Overall Score

A Score in Gray Indicates a Score Below the Median of All States

10 / 30

Airspace Lease Law
Arizona law allows the director of the Arizona Department of Transportation to lease airspace above state roads, which allows state officials to create drone highways above these roadways. However, the law is silent as to whether local officials can lease airspace above local roads.

 

25 / 25

Avigation Easement Law
Arizona law creates an avigation easement, which means drone operators are protected from nuisance and trespass laws as long as their drones do not disturb people on the ground.

20 / 20

Task Force or Program Office
State lawmakers created the Urban Air Mobility Study Committee in 2021. The committee provides recommendations to lawmakers about how to improve passenger drone regulation and commerce.

0 / 10

Sandbox
Arizona does not have a drone sandbox. State officials should consider dedicating state facilities and airspace to commercial drone testing.

10 / 10

Law Vesting Landowners with Air Rights
Arizona law expressly provides air rights to landowners, which reduces litigation risk for drone operators.

3 / 5

Jobs Estimate
Arizona is in the middle quintile when it comes to the number of drone-related jobs per 100,000 people.

How Arizona Scored Relative to Its Peers

Commercial drone-readiness scores vary across the nation. To give state leaders and residents insight into how their state compares, we have provided the scores of four state peers. In this case, these peers are selected because of their geographic and political similarities.

Chart showing how Arizona scored relative to its peers

Arizona scored 68 of out 100 possible points. The top ranked state in 2023 was Arkansas, which scored 90 points.

Chart showing how Arizona scored relative to its peers

Get in Touch With the Author

Brent Skorup regularly briefs policymakers on his research and has appeared as a guest for news outlets like C-SPAN, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, and CNBC Asia.

Dive Deeper

Access the full 2023 report to learn more about the methodology, download the data, and see how the scorecard has changed since last year.