Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,466
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$6,774
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,079
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
$42,240
Kept after tax
$35,466
Worth in national money
$35,079
State rank
42
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $42,240, ranking 42 of 47 states — about 19.6% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Arizona, this one sits low: 412 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $42,240 the take-home is $35,466, which is worth about $35,079 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $48,730, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona ranks 42 of 47 for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers, with a median of $42,240 — about 19.6% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers occupies position 412 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.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers on its $42,240 median: $35,466 retained after tax becomes $35,079 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $48,730 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,920 |
| This salary | $42,240 |
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 | $35,466 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,120 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,091 |
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 | $41,427 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,529 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arizona earn less than $42,240. The published range is $34,850 up to $75,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $35,466 take-home in Arizona comes from $42,240. 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 412 of 491.
- Two cautions on $35,079, the adjusted value of that $42,240 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 412 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,850 to $75,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $35,466, from $42,240, 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 412 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 47 for it.
- This $35,079 adjusted figure, worked from $42,240, 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 412 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 412 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 $48,730 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 $34,850 and the top tenth $75,920 — 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 $35,079 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arizona adds its own income tax on top — which is why $35,466 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 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 $48,730. 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 ($34,850) and the ninetieth ($75,920) 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 $35,079 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 $35,466 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.