Operations Research Analysts in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,439
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$15,031
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,778
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
$75,470
Kept after tax
$60,439
Worth in national money
$59,778
State rank
41
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is among the lower-paying states for operations research analysts. The middle earner takes $75,470, ranking 41 of 47 states — about 15.15% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Operations research analysts ranks 135 among 491 occupations Arizona publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $75,470 the take-home is $60,439, which is worth about $59,778 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $83,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona ranks 41 of 47 for operations research analysts, with a median of $75,470 — about 15.15% 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.
- Position 135 of 491 in Arizona places operations research analysts 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 operations research analysts on its $75,470 median: $60,439 retained after tax becomes $59,778 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $83,290 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,230 |
| This salary | $75,470 |
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 | $60,439 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,923 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,945 |
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 | $73,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,449 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $75,470 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,430 and the ninetieth is $124,230 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $60,439, worked from $75,470. 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 135 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $59,778, the adjusted value of that $75,470 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 135 of 491 in the state.
- The Arizona median of $75,470 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,430 to $124,230. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arizona take-home of $60,439, on $75,470 for work ranking 135 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 135 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $59,778 — the adjusted value of that $75,470 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 135 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $83,290, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $58,430 and the top tenth $124,230 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $59,778 rather than its face figure.
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 $60,439.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $83,290. 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 ($58,430) and the ninetieth ($124,230) 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 $59,778 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 $60,439 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.