Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,654
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$24,136
23.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,783
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
$103,790
Kept after tax
$79,654
Worth in national money
$78,783
State rank
6
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Arizona pays this job a middle wage of $103,790, ranking 6 of 48 states and sitting about 11.3% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Arizona reports, this job comes in at 46 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $103,790 the take-home is $79,654, which is worth about $78,783 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $107,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona's median for chemistry teachers, postsecondary is $103,790, about 11.3% above the national figure and 6 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Chemistry teachers, postsecondary ranks 46 of 491 occupations by median in Arizona, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for chemistry teachers, postsecondary on its $103,790 median: $79,654 retained after tax becomes $78,783 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $107,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $157,720 |
| This salary | $103,790 |
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 | $79,654 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,846 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,442 |
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 | $100,674 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,517 |
| 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 chemistry teachers, postsecondary in Arizona earn under $103,790 and half over. The published range runs $66,050 at the tenth percentile to $157,720 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $79,654, from $103,790, 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 46 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 $78,783, the adjusted value of that $103,790 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 46 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chemistry teachers, postsecondary in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $66,050 to $157,720; 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 $79,654 from $103,790. 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 46 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $78,783 — the adjusted value of that $103,790 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 46 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 $107,300, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $66,050 at the bottom tenth to $157,720 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $78,783 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 $79,654 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $107,300. 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 ($66,050) and the ninetieth ($157,720) 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 $78,783 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 $79,654 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.