Bartenders in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,669
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$7,401
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,258
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
$45,070
Kept after tax
$37,669
Worth in national money
$37,258
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bartenders is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $45,070, putting the state 8 of 51 — about 31.25% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Arizona, this one sits low: 389 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $45,070 the take-home is $37,669, which is worth about $37,258 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $54,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For bartenders, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,070, ranking 8 of 51 and running about 31.25% 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.
- Bartenders occupies position 389 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.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for bartenders on its $45,070 median: $37,669 retained after tax becomes $37,258 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $54,030 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,720 |
| This salary | $45,070 |
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 | $37,669 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,394 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,252 |
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 | $44,169 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,724 |
| 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 $45,070. The published range is $30,650 up to $86,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $37,669, from $45,070, 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 389 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 $37,258 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 389.
- Reported values are medians; for bartenders in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,650 to $86,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arizona is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,669 from $45,070. 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 389 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,258, worked from $45,070, 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 389 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 $54,030, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $30,650 at the bottom tenth to $86,720 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 $37,258 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arizona adds its own income tax on top — which is why $37,669 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $54,030. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($30,650) and the ninetieth ($86,720) 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 $37,258 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 $37,669 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.