Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,419
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$11,881
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,835
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
$65,300
Kept after tax
$53,419
Worth in national money
$52,835
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Arizona's middle earner gets $65,300, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 10.03% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Arizona, this sits in the middle: 175 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $65,300, take-home of $53,419 is worth roughly $52,835 in national money. The average comes to $68,120, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, Arizona sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $65,300, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 10.03% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors ranks 175 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.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, whose median is $65,300, the adjusted figure of $52,835 differs little from $53,419 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $68,120 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,210 |
| This salary | $65,300 |
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 | $53,419 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,649 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,403 |
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 | $63,769 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,115 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arizona earn less than $65,300. The published range is $44,520 up to $95,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $53,419 take-home in Arizona comes from $65,300. 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 175 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,835 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 175.
- Reported values are medians; for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Arizona the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,520 to $95,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $53,419, from $65,300, 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 175 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,835, worked from $65,300, 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 175 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $68,120, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $44,520, the highest tenth $95,210, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $52,835 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arizona adds its own income tax on top — which is why $53,419 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $68,120. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($44,520) and the ninetieth ($95,210) 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 $52,835 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 $53,419 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.