Chemical Technicians in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,855
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$12,005
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,266
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
$65,860
Kept after tax
$53,855
Worth in national money
$53,266
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chemical technicians is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $65,860, putting the state 7 of 51 — about 9.06% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 172.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $65,860 the take-home is $53,855, which is worth about $53,266 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $70,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For chemical technicians, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $65,860, ranking 7 of 51 and running about 9.06% 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.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, chemical technicians sits at 172 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for chemical technicians on its $65,860 median: $53,855 retained after tax becomes $53,266 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $70,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,040 |
| This salary | $65,860 |
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 | $53,855 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,099 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,434 |
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 | $64,312 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,154 |
| 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 chemical technicians in Arizona earn under $65,860 and half over. The published range runs $46,140 at the tenth percentile to $93,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $53,855, from $65,860, 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 172 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,266, the adjusted value of that $65,860 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 172 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chemical technicians in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,140 to $93,040; 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 $53,855 from $65,860. 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 172 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $53,266 — the adjusted value of that $65,860 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 172 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $70,090, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,140 and the top tenth $93,040, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $53,266 — 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, $53,855 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 $70,090. 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 ($46,140 to $93,040) 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 $53,266 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 $53,855 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.