Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$87,274
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$27,746
24.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,320
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
$115,020
Kept after tax
$87,274
Worth in national money
$86,320
State rank
8
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for atmospheric and space scientists is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $115,020, putting the state 8 of 47 — about 16.1% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Arizona reports, atmospheric and space scientists comes in at 34 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $115,020, tax leaves $87,274, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $86,320 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $112,930.
- For atmospheric and space scientists, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $115,020, ranking 8 of 47 and running about 16.1% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Atmospheric and space scientists ranks 34 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 atmospheric and space scientists — median $115,020 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $87,274 retained, $86,320 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $112,930 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $115,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,500 |
| This salary | $115,020 |
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 | $87,274 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $89,747 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,036 |
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 | $111,505 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,337 |
| 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 $115,020. The published range is $63,920 up to $156,500, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $87,274 take-home in Arizona comes from $115,020. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 34 of 491.
- Two cautions on $86,320, the adjusted value of that $115,020 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arizona. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 34 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for atmospheric and space scientists in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,920 to $156,500. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $87,274, from $115,020, assumes a single Arizona filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 34 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 47 for it.
- This $86,320 adjusted figure, worked from $115,020, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 34 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 34 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $63,920 at the bottom tenth to $156,500 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $86,320 — 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, $87,274 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($63,920) and the ninetieth ($156,500) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $86,320 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 $87,274 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.