Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,562
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$13,668
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,933
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
$71,230
Kept after tax
$57,562
Worth in national money
$56,933
State rank
37
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arizona pays this job a middle wage of $71,230, 37 of 45 states and about 10.23% 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 159.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $71,230, take-home of $57,562 is worth roughly $56,933 in national money. The average comes to $79,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona's $71,230 median for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary places it 37 of 45 states, about 10.23% 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, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary sits at 159 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.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $71,230, the adjusted figure of $56,933 differs little from $57,562 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $79,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,910 |
| This salary | $71,230 |
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 | $57,562 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,940 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,721 |
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 | $69,271 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,089 |
| 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 foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Arizona earn under $71,230 and half over. The published range runs $60,350 at the tenth percentile to $118,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $57,562 take-home in Arizona comes from $71,230. 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 159 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $56,933, the adjusted value of that $71,230 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 159 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,350 to $118,910; 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.
- Retained pay of $57,562, from $71,230, 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 159 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $56,933 — the adjusted value of that $71,230 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 159 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 $79,280, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $60,350 at the bottom tenth to $118,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $56,933 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 $57,562.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $79,280. 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 ($60,350) and the ninetieth ($118,910) 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 $56,933 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 $57,562 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.