Architects, Except Landscape and Naval in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,440
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$23,561
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,582
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$102,000
Kept after tax
$78,440
Worth in national money
$77,582
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $102,000, which ranks 12 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.74% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Arizona reports, this job comes in at 56 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $102,000, tax leaves $78,440, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $77,582 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $105,840, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arizona ranks 12 of 51 states publishing a median for architects, except landscape and naval, at $102,000 — about 2.74% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Architects, except landscape and naval ranks 56 of 491 occupations by median in Arizona, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for architects, except landscape and naval — median $102,000 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $78,440 retained, $77,582 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $105,840 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $138,170 |
| This salary | $102,000 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Arizona | $78,440 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,587 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,348 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $98,947 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,387 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arizona earn less than $102,000. The published range is $68,260 up to $138,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $78,440, worked from $102,000. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 56 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $77,582 uses one figure for the whole of Arizona. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 56.
- Reported values are medians; for architects, except landscape and naval in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $68,260 to $138,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arizona take-home of $78,440, on $102,000 for work ranking 56 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 56 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $77,582, worked from $102,000, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Arizona address, on work sitting at 56 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $105,840 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $68,260 at the tenth percentile, $138,170 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Arizona run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $77,582 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arizona's own levy, $78,440 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Arizona is $105,840. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($68,260 to $138,170) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arizona rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $77,582 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $78,440 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.