Court, Municipal, and License Clerks in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,495
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,205
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,053
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
$48,700
Kept after tax
$40,495
Worth in national money
$40,053
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arizona is 21 of 51 states for court, municipal, and license clerks, with a middle wage of $48,700. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Arizona, this sits in the middle: 316 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $48,700, take-home of $40,495 is worth roughly $40,053 in national money. The average comes to $51,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona ranks 21 of 51 for court, municipal, and license clerks at $48,700. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Court, municipal, and license clerks ranks 316 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.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for court, municipal, and license clerks, whose median is $48,700, the adjusted figure of $40,053 differs little from $40,495 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $51,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,770 |
| This salary | $48,700 |
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 | $40,495 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,310 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,459 |
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 | $47,686 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,973 |
| 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 court, municipal, and license clerks in Arizona earn under $48,700 and half over. The published range runs $39,870 at the tenth percentile to $61,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $40,495, from $48,700, 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 316 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 $40,053, the adjusted value of that $48,700 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 316 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for court, municipal, and license clerks in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,870 to $61,770; 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 $40,495 from $48,700. 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 316 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $40,053 — the adjusted value of that $48,700 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 316 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 $51,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,870 at the tenth percentile, $61,770 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 $40,053 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Arizona then takes its own share, leaving $40,495.
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 $51,140. 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 ($39,870 to $61,770) 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 $40,053 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 $40,495 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.