Biological Technicians in Arizona

A sunlit research desk with a laptop, reference books, an abacus and a magnifying glass.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$44,069

after federal, FICA and Arizona tax

Tax takes

$9,221

17.3% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$43,587

Arizona costs more than average

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

$53,290

Kept after tax

$44,069

Worth in national money

$43,587

State rank

20

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for biological technicians. The median is $53,290, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Against other work in Arizona, this sits in the middle: 276 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
  • Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $53,290 the take-home is $44,069, which is worth about $43,587 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $59,050, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Arizona occupies the middle band for biological technicians: a median of $53,290, ranking 20 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
  • Biological technicians ranks 276 of 491 occupations in Arizona by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
  • Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for biological technicians on its $53,290 median: $44,069 retained after tax becomes $43,587 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $59,050 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.

Pay band: Biological Technicians

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$44,040
Half earn under$53,290
Top tenth earn over$81,960
This salary$53,290

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

Compare with
+$930take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Arizona$44,069
Take-home in Texas$44,999
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$2,720

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

Moving to
$0now · $53,290$50,001
$50,001in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$52,133
You could take a cut of−$3,289
Prices in Texas97 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 $53,290. The published range is $44,040 up to $81,960, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $44,069 take-home in Arizona comes from $53,290. 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 276 of 491.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,587 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 276.
  • Reported values are medians; for biological technicians in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,040 to $81,960. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $44,069, from $53,290, 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 276 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,587, worked from $53,290, 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 276 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 $59,050, 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 — $44,040 at the tenth percentile, $81,960 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 $43,587 of national purchasing power.

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 $44,069 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 $59,050. 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 ($44,040 to $81,960) 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 $43,587 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 $44,069 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.