Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,102
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$7,808
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,675
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
$46,910
Kept after tax
$39,102
Worth in national money
$38,675
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,910, ranking 32 of 51 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: 352 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 $46,910 the take-home is $39,102, which is worth about $38,675 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $48,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona occupies the middle band for refuse and recyclable material collectors: a median of $46,910, ranking 32 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors ranks 352 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 refuse and recyclable material collectors on its $46,910 median: $39,102 retained after tax becomes $38,675 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $48,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,610 |
| This salary | $46,910 |
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 | $39,102 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,872 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,357 |
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 | $45,951 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,850 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,910 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,480 and the ninetieth is $73,610 — 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 $39,102, worked from $46,910. 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 352 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,675, the adjusted value of that $46,910 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 352 of 491 in the state.
- The Arizona median of $46,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,480 to $73,610. 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 $39,102, on $46,910 for work ranking 352 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 352 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $38,675 — the adjusted value of that $46,910 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 352 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 $48,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $33,480, the highest tenth $73,610, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $38,675 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $39,102.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $48,500. 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 ($33,480) and the ninetieth ($73,610) 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 $38,675 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 $39,102 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.