Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,168
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,112
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,729
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
$48,280
Kept after tax
$40,168
Worth in national money
$39,729
State rank
28
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $48,280, ranking 28 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 321 among 491 occupations Arizona publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $48,280 the take-home is $40,168, which is worth about $39,729 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $52,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona occupies the middle band for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders: a median of $48,280, ranking 28 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 321 of 491 in Arizona places mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders 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 mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders on its $48,280 median: $40,168 retained after tax becomes $39,729 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $52,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,010 |
| This salary | $48,280 |
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 | $40,168 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,973 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,435 |
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 | $47,279 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,944 |
| 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 $48,280. The published range is $38,320 up to $73,010, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,168 take-home in Arizona comes from $48,280. 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 321 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,729, the adjusted value of that $48,280 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 321 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,320 to $73,010. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,168, from $48,280, 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 321 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $39,729 — the adjusted value of that $48,280 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 321 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 $52,170 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,320 and the top tenth $73,010, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $39,729 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 $40,168.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,170. 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 ($38,320 to $73,010) 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 $39,729 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 $40,168 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.