Curators in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,025
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$11,485
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,456
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
$63,510
Kept after tax
$52,025
Worth in national money
$51,456
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arizona is 18 of 49 states for curators, with a middle wage of $63,510. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Curators ranks 191 among 491 occupations Arizona publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $63,510, take-home of $52,025 is worth roughly $51,456 in national money. The average comes to $71,560, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona ranks 18 of 49 for curators at $63,510. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 191 of 491 in Arizona places curators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for curators, whose median is $63,510, the adjusted figure of $51,456 differs little from $52,025 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $71,560 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,800 |
| This salary | $63,510 |
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 | $52,025 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,210 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,301 |
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 | $62,035 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,992 |
| 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 curators in Arizona earn under $63,510 and half over. The published range runs $36,490 at the tenth percentile to $102,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $52,025, worked from $63,510. 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 191 of 491.
- Two cautions on $51,456, the adjusted value of that $63,510 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arizona. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 191 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for curators in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,490 to $102,800; 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.
- The Arizona take-home of $52,025, on $63,510 for work ranking 191 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 191 of 491 in the state.
- This $51,456 adjusted figure, worked from $63,510, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 191 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 191 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $71,560, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $36,490 and the top tenth $102,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $51,456 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 $52,025.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $71,560. 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 ($36,490) and the ninetieth ($102,800) 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 $51,456 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 $52,025 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.