Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$82,877
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$25,663
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,971
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
$108,540
Kept after tax
$82,877
Worth in national money
$81,971
State rank
21
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arizona is 21 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $108,540. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arizona. It ranks 38 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $108,540, take-home of $82,877 is worth roughly $81,971 in national money. The average comes to $112,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona ranks 21 of 48 for engineering teachers, postsecondary at $108,540. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Arizona, engineering teachers, postsecondary ranks 38 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.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for engineering teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $108,540, the adjusted figure of $81,971 differs little from $82,877 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $112,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $108,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $159,690 |
| This salary | $108,540 |
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 | $82,877 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $85,188 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,693 |
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 | $105,255 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,864 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $108,540 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $72,300 and the ninetieth is $159,690 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $82,877 take-home in Arizona comes from $108,540. 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 38 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $81,971, the adjusted value of that $108,540 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 38 of 491 in the state.
- The Arizona median of $108,540 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $72,300 to $159,690. 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 $82,877, from $108,540, 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 38 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $81,971 — the adjusted value of that $108,540 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 38 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 $112,750 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 $72,300, the highest tenth $159,690, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Arizona costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $81,971 rather than its face figure.
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 $82,877.
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 $112,750. 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 ($72,300) and the ninetieth ($159,690) 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 $81,971 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 $82,877 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.