Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,981
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$29,029
24.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$88,997
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
$119,010
Kept after tax
$89,981
Worth in national money
$88,997
State rank
5
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $119,010, putting the state 5 of 48 — about 18.32% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arizona. It ranks 29 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $119,010, tax leaves $89,981, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $88,997 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $115,230.
- For clinical and counseling psychologists, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $119,010, ranking 5 of 48 and running about 18.32% 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.
- Within Arizona, clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 29 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for clinical and counseling psychologists — median $119,010 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $89,981 retained, $88,997 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $115,230 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $119,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $170,170 |
| This salary | $119,010 |
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 | $89,981 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $92,554 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,247 |
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 | $115,353 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,629 |
| 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 $119,010. The published range is $61,890 up to $170,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $89,981 take-home in Arizona comes from $119,010. 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 29 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $88,997 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 29.
- Reported values are medians; for clinical and counseling psychologists in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,890 to $170,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $89,981, from $119,010, 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 29 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $88,997, worked from $119,010, 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 29 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $115,230 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,890, the highest tenth $170,170, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $88,997 — 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, $89,981 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $115,230. 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 ($61,890) and the ninetieth ($170,170) 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 $88,997 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 $89,981 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.