Slaughterers and Meat Packers in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,745
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,275
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,299
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
$49,020
Kept after tax
$40,745
Worth in national money
$40,299
State rank
2
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Arizona pays slaughterers and meat packers a middle wage of $49,020, ranking 2 of 47 states and sitting about 22.15% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 311.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $49,020 the take-home is $40,745, which is worth about $40,299 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $52,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona's median for slaughterers and meat packers is $49,020, about 22.15% above the national figure and 2 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, slaughterers and meat packers sits at 311 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.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for slaughterers and meat packers on its $49,020 median: $40,745 retained after tax becomes $40,299 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $52,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Slaughterers and Meat Packers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,870 |
| This salary | $49,020 |
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 | $40,745 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,568 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,477 |
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 | $47,996 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,995 |
| 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 slaughterers and meat packers in Arizona earn under $49,020 and half over. The published range runs $40,030 at the tenth percentile to $58,870 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 $40,745, worked from $49,020. 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 311 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,299 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 311.
- Figures are distribution medians for slaughterers and meat packers in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,030 to $58,870; 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 $40,745, on $49,020 for work ranking 311 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 311 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,299, worked from $49,020, 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 311 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,630 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,030 at the tenth percentile, $58,870 at the ninetieth.
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 $40,299 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arizona's own levy, $40,745 remains.
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 $52,630. 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 ($40,030 to $58,870) 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 $40,299 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 $40,745 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.