Registered Nurses in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,743
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$22,757
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,905
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
$99,500
Kept after tax
$76,743
Worth in national money
$75,905
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arizona pays registered nurses around $99,500 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Arizona this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, registered nurses ranks 69 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $99,500, tax leaves $76,743, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $75,905 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $99,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- For registered nurses the Arizona median is $99,500, ranking 18 of 51 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Arizona publishes a median for, registered nurses sits 69 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for registered nurses — median $99,500 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $76,743 retained, $75,905 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $99,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,930 |
| This salary | $99,500 |
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 | $76,743 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,828 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,215 |
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 | $96,536 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,204 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arizona earn less than $99,500. The published range is $70,540 up to $130,930, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $76,743 take-home in Arizona comes from $99,500. 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 69 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,905 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 69.
- Reported values are medians; for registered nurses in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $70,540 to $130,930. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $76,743, from $99,500, 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 69 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,905, worked from $99,500, 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 69 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $70,540 at the bottom tenth to $130,930 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 $75,905 of national purchasing power.
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 $76,743.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($70,540 to $130,930) 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 $75,905 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 $76,743 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.