Social Science Research Assistants in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,600
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$11,080
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,047
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
$61,680
Kept after tax
$50,600
Worth in national money
$50,047
State rank
17
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arizona pays social science research assistants around $61,680 at the midpoint, 17 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Arizona, this sits in the middle: 213 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $61,680, tax leaves $50,600, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $50,047 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $61,990, since top earners drag the number up.
- For social science research assistants the Arizona median is $61,680, ranking 17 of 45 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.
- Social science research assistants ranks 213 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.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for social science research assistants — median $61,680 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $50,600 retained, $50,047 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $61,990 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,470 |
| This salary | $61,680 |
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 | $50,600 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,740 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,197 |
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 | $60,262 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,866 |
| 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 social science research assistants in Arizona earn under $61,680 and half over. The published range runs $47,130 at the tenth percentile to $82,470 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $50,600 take-home in Arizona comes from $61,680. 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 213 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,047, the adjusted value of that $61,680 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 213 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for social science research assistants in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,130 to $82,470; 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 $50,600, from $61,680, 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 213 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $50,047 — the adjusted value of that $61,680 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 213 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $47,130 at the tenth percentile, $82,470 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Arizona costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $50,047 rather than its face figure.
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 $50,600.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,130 to $82,470) 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 $50,047 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 $50,600 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.