Highway Maintenance Workers in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,169
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,681
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,708
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
$50,850
Kept after tax
$42,169
Worth in national money
$41,708
State rank
22
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for highway maintenance workers. The median is $50,850, ranking 22 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Highway maintenance workers ranks 287 among 491 occupations Arizona publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $50,850 the take-home is $42,169, which is worth about $41,708 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $50,260, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Arizona occupies the middle band for highway maintenance workers: a median of $50,850, ranking 22 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 287 of 491 in Arizona places highway maintenance workers 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.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for highway maintenance workers on its $50,850 median: $42,169 retained after tax becomes $41,708 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $50,260 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,910 |
| This salary | $50,850 |
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 | $42,169 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,038 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,581 |
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 | $49,769 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,121 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,850 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,020 and the ninetieth is $63,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $42,169, from $50,850, 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 287 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,708, the adjusted value of that $50,850 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 287 of 491 locally.
- The Arizona median of $50,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,020 to $63,910. 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 $42,169 from $50,850. 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 287 of 491 locally.
- This $41,708 adjusted figure, worked from $50,850, 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 287 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 287 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,020 at the tenth percentile, $63,910 at the ninetieth.
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 $41,708 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arizona's own levy, $42,169 remains.
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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,020 to $63,910) 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 $41,708 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 $42,169 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.