Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,484
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$5,356
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,151
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
$35,840
Kept after tax
$30,484
Worth in national money
$30,151
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arizona pays this job around $35,840 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in Arizona, this one sits low: 468 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $35,840, tax leaves $30,484, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $30,151 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $37,500, since top earners drag the number up.
- For automotive and watercraft service attendants the Arizona median is $35,840, ranking 25 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Automotive and watercraft service attendants occupies position 468 of 491 in Arizona's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for automotive and watercraft service attendants — median $35,840 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $30,484 retained, $30,151 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $37,500 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,050 |
| This salary | $35,840 |
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 | $30,484 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,977 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,727 |
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 | $35,226 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,089 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of automotive and watercraft service attendants in Arizona earn under $35,840 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $45,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $30,484, from $35,840, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 468 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,151 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 468.
- Figures are distribution medians for automotive and watercraft service attendants in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $45,050; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Arizona is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,484 from $35,840. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 468 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,151, worked from $35,840, 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 468 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,200 at the tenth percentile, $45,050 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $30,151 of national purchasing power.
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, $30,484 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 $37,500. 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 ($31,200 to $45,050) 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 $30,151 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 $30,484 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.