Museum Technicians and Conservators in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,900
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$7,750
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,474
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
$46,650
Kept after tax
$38,900
Worth in national money
$38,474
State rank
26
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,650, ranking 26 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Arizona, this sits in the middle: 355 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,650 the take-home is $38,900, which is worth about $38,474 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $49,650, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona occupies the middle band for museum technicians and conservators: a median of $46,650, ranking 26 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Museum technicians and conservators ranks 355 of 491 occupations in Arizona by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for museum technicians and conservators on its $46,650 median: $38,900 retained after tax becomes $38,474 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $49,650 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,920 |
| This salary | $46,650 |
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 | $38,900 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,663 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,342 |
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 | $45,699 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,832 |
| 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 museum technicians and conservators in Arizona earn under $46,650 and half over. The published range runs $35,410 at the tenth percentile to $68,920 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,900 take-home in Arizona comes from $46,650. 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 355 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,474 uses one figure for the whole of Arizona. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 355.
- Figures are distribution medians for museum technicians and conservators in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,410 to $68,920; 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.
- Retained pay of $38,900, from $46,650, 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 355 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,474, worked from $46,650, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Arizona address, on work sitting at 355 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $49,650, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,410 at the bottom tenth to $68,920 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Arizona costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $38,474 rather than its face figure.
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 $38,900 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 45 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 $49,650. 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 ($35,410 to $68,920) 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 $38,474 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 $38,900 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.