Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,173
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,967
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,702
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
$52,140
Kept after tax
$43,173
Worth in national money
$42,702
State rank
29
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arizona pays this job around $52,140 at the midpoint, 29 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 280.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $52,140, take-home of $43,173 is worth roughly $42,702 in national money. The average comes to $59,760, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators the Arizona median is $52,140, ranking 29 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators sits at 280 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, whose median is $52,140, the adjusted figure of $42,702 differs little from $43,173 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $59,760 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,740 |
| This salary | $52,140 |
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 | $43,173 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,074 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,654 |
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 | $51,019 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,210 |
| 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 paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Arizona earn under $52,140 and half over. The published range runs $47,270 at the tenth percentile to $75,740 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 $43,173, worked from $52,140. 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 280 of 491.
- Two cautions on $42,702, the adjusted value of that $52,140 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 280 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,270 to $75,740; 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 $43,173, on $52,140 for work ranking 280 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 280 of 491 in the state.
- This $42,702 adjusted figure, worked from $52,140, 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 280 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 280 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 $59,760, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,270 at the bottom tenth to $75,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,702 of national purchasing power.
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 $43,173 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 50 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 $59,760. 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 ($47,270 to $75,740) 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 $42,702 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 $43,173 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.