Carpenters in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,187
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$10,393
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,660
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
$58,580
Kept after tax
$48,187
Worth in national money
$47,660
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for carpenters. The median is $58,580, ranking 29 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: 247 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $58,580, tax leaves $48,187, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $47,660 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $58,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arizona occupies the middle band for carpenters: a median of $58,580, ranking 29 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.
- Carpenters ranks 247 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.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for carpenters — median $58,580 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $48,187 retained, $47,660 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $58,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,950 |
| This salary | $58,580 |
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 | $48,187 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,249 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,020 |
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 | $57,258 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,653 |
| 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 $58,580. The published range is $38,830 up to $75,950, 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 $48,187, worked from $58,580. 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 247 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,660 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 247.
- Reported values are medians; for carpenters in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,830 to $75,950. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arizona take-home of $48,187, on $58,580 for work ranking 247 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 247 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,660, worked from $58,580, 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 247 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,830 at the bottom tenth to $75,950 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $47,660 — 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, $48,187 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,830 to $75,950) 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 $47,660 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 $48,187 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.