Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,672
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$9,678
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,173
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
$55,350
Kept after tax
$45,672
Worth in national money
$45,173
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arizona pays this job a middle wage of $55,350, 47 of 51 states and about 5.34% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 268.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $55,350, take-home of $45,672 is worth roughly $45,173 in national money. The average comes to $56,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona's $55,350 median for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators places it 47 of 51 states, about 5.34% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators sits at 268 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 postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, whose median is $55,350, the adjusted figure of $45,173 differs little from $45,672 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $56,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $55,350 |
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 | $45,672 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,654 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,837 |
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 | $54,129 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,431 |
| 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 postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Arizona earn under $55,350 and half over. The published range runs $42,600 at the tenth percentile to $75,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $45,672 take-home in Arizona comes from $55,350. 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 268 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,173 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 268.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,600 to $75,280; 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 $45,672, from $55,350, 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 268 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,173, worked from $55,350, 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 268 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,600 at the tenth percentile, $75,280 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 $45,173 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $45,672 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,280) 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 $45,173 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 $45,672 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.