Library Assistants, Clerical in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,251
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$5,859
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,899
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
$38,110
Kept after tax
$32,251
Worth in national money
$31,899
State rank
14
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for library assistants, clerical is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $38,110, putting the state 14 of 50 — about 3.25% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Arizona, this one sits low: 446 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $38,110 the take-home is $32,251, which is worth about $31,899 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $40,120, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For library assistants, clerical, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $38,110, ranking 14 of 50 and running about 3.25% 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.
- Library assistants, clerical occupies position 446 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 library assistants, clerical on its $38,110 median: $32,251 retained after tax becomes $31,899 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $40,120 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Library Assistants, Clerical
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,480 |
| This salary | $38,110 |
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 | $32,251 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,801 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,856 |
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 | $37,425 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,245 |
| 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 library assistants, clerical in Arizona earn under $38,110 and half over. The published range runs $33,270 at the tenth percentile to $48,480 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $32,251, worked from $38,110. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 446 of 491.
- Two cautions on $31,899, the adjusted value of that $38,110 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 446 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for library assistants, clerical in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,270 to $48,480; 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.
- The Arizona take-home of $32,251, on $38,110 for work ranking 446 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 446 of 491 in the state.
- This $31,899 adjusted figure, worked from $38,110, 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 446 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 446 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 $40,120 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,270 at the tenth percentile, $48,480 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 $31,899 — 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 $32,251.
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 $40,120. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,270 to $48,480) 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 $31,899 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 $32,251 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.