Soil and Plant Scientists in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,118
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$17,722
21.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,395
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
$83,840
Kept after tax
$66,118
Worth in national money
$65,395
State rank
11
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is one of the better-paying states for soil and plant scientists. The middle earner takes $83,840, which ranks 11 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 6.33% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Arizona reports, soil and plant scientists comes in at 98 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $83,840, tax leaves $66,118, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $65,395 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $81,680.
- Arizona ranks 11 of 46 states publishing a median for soil and plant scientists, at $83,840 — about 6.33% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Soil and plant scientists ranks 98 of 491 occupations by median in Arizona, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for soil and plant scientists — median $83,840 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $66,118 retained, $65,395 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $81,680 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,900 |
| This salary | $83,840 |
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 | $66,118 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,811 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,387 |
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 | $81,433 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,060 |
| 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 soil and plant scientists in Arizona earn under $83,840 and half over. The published range runs $40,250 at the tenth percentile to $124,900 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $66,118, from $83,840, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 98 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $65,395 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 98.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,250 to $124,900; 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.
- Take-home for Arizona is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $66,118 from $83,840. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 98 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $65,395, worked from $83,840, 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 98 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $40,250 at the bottom tenth to $124,900 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $65,395 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $66,118 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($40,250) and the ninetieth ($124,900) 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 $65,395 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 $66,118 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.