Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,951
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$11,179
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,394
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
$62,130
Kept after tax
$50,951
Worth in national money
$50,394
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arizona. The middle earner gets $62,130. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 7% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 206.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $62,130, tax leaves $50,951, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $50,394 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $62,350, since top earners drag the number up.
- For special education teachers, middle school, Arizona sits in the lower band at $62,130, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, special education teachers, middle school sits at 206 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.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for special education teachers, middle school — median $62,130 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $50,951 retained, $50,394 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $62,350 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,520 |
| This salary | $62,130 |
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 | $50,951 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,101 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,222 |
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 | $60,698 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,897 |
| 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 special education teachers, middle school in Arizona earn under $62,130 and half over. The published range runs $47,010 at the tenth percentile to $77,520 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 $50,951, worked from $62,130. 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 206 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,394 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 206.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, middle school in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,010 to $77,520; 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 $50,951, on $62,130 for work ranking 206 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 206 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,394, worked from $62,130, 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 206 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $47,010 at the tenth percentile, $77,520 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 $50,394 rather than its face figure.
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, $50,951 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,010 to $77,520) 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 $50,394 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 $50,951 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.