Special Education Teachers, Preschool in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,394
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$10,736
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,854
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
$60,130
Kept after tax
$49,394
Worth in national money
$48,854
State rank
28
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $60,130, ranking 28 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Arizona, this sits in the middle: 229 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $60,130 the take-home is $49,394, which is worth about $48,854 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $61,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona occupies the middle band for special education teachers, preschool: a median of $60,130, ranking 28 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Special education teachers, preschool ranks 229 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.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for special education teachers, preschool on its $60,130 median: $49,394 retained after tax becomes $48,854 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $61,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Preschool
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,680 |
| This salary | $60,130 |
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 | $49,394 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,494 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,109 |
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 | $58,760 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,759 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,130 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,920 and the ninetieth is $80,680 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $49,394, worked from $60,130. 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 229 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,854 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 229.
- The Arizona median of $60,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,920 to $80,680. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arizona take-home of $49,394, on $60,130 for work ranking 229 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 229 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,854, worked from $60,130, 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 229 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,920 at the bottom tenth to $80,680 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $48,854 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, $49,394 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,920 to $80,680) 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 $48,854 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 $49,394 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.