Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,239
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$5,571
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,898
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
$36,810
Kept after tax
$31,239
Worth in national money
$30,898
State rank
15
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $36,810, putting the state 15 of 50 — about 2.85% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Arizona, this one sits low: 457 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $36,810, tax leaves $31,239, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $30,898 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $43,000, since top earners drag the number up.
- For hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $36,810, ranking 15 of 50 and running about 2.85% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists occupies position 457 of 491 in Arizona's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists — median $36,810 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $31,239 retained, $30,898 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $43,000 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,790 |
| This salary | $36,810 |
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 | $31,239 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,757 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,782 |
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 | $36,166 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,156 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,810 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,050 and the ninetieth is $57,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $31,239, from $36,810, 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 457 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 $30,898, the adjusted value of that $36,810 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 457 of 491 in the state.
- The Arizona median of $36,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,050 to $57,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Arizona is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,239 from $36,810. 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 457 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $30,898 — the adjusted value of that $36,810 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 457 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 $43,000 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,050 and the top tenth $57,790 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Arizona run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $30,898 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $31,239.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $43,000. 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 ($31,050) and the ninetieth ($57,790) 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 $30,898 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 $31,239 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.