Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,638
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$9,952
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,128
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
$56,590
Kept after tax
$46,638
Worth in national money
$46,128
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arizona pays this job a middle wage of $56,590, 43 of 51 states and about 11.54% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 259.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $56,590 the take-home is $46,638, which is worth about $46,128 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $58,920, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona's $56,590 median for elementary school teachers, except special education places it 43 of 51 states, about 11.54% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, elementary school teachers, except special education sits at 259 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 elementary school teachers, except special education on its $56,590 median: $46,638 retained after tax becomes $46,128 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $58,920 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,470 |
| This salary | $56,590 |
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 | $46,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,650 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,907 |
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 | $55,330 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,516 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,590 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,370 and the ninetieth is $79,470 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,638 take-home in Arizona comes from $56,590. 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 259 of 491.
- Two cautions on $46,128, the adjusted value of that $56,590 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 259 of 491 locally.
- The Arizona median of $56,590 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,370 to $79,470. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $46,638, from $56,590, 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 259 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- This $46,128 adjusted figure, worked from $56,590, 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 259 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 259 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 $58,920, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $43,370 at the tenth percentile, $79,470 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 $46,128 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 $46,638.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $58,920. 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 ($43,370 to $79,470) 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 $46,128 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 $46,638 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.