Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,360
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,450
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,908
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
$49,810
Kept after tax
$41,360
Worth in national money
$40,908
State rank
12
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $49,810, which ranks 12 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 16.08% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 304.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $49,810, tax leaves $41,360, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $40,908 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $52,880, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arizona ranks 12 of 45 states publishing a median for teaching assistants, postsecondary, at $49,810 — about 16.08% 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.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, teaching assistants, postsecondary sits at 304 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 teaching assistants, postsecondary — median $49,810 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $41,360 retained, $40,908 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $52,880 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,830 |
| This salary | $49,810 |
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 | $41,360 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,202 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,522 |
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 | $48,761 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,050 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,810 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,900 and the ninetieth is $74,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arizona the take-home figure of $41,360, from $49,810, 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 304 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 $40,908 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 304.
- The Arizona median of $49,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,900 to $74,830. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Arizona is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,360 from $49,810. 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 304 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,908, worked from $49,810, 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 304 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,880 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $30,900 at the bottom tenth to $74,830 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,908 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 $41,360 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 $52,880. 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 ($30,900) and the ninetieth ($74,830) 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 $40,908 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 $41,360 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.