Tool and Die Makers in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,623
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$10,517
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,092
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
$59,140
Kept after tax
$48,623
Worth in national money
$48,092
State rank
36
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arizona is among the lower-paying states for tool and die makers. The middle earner takes $59,140, ranking 36 of 45 states — about 7.67% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 240.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $59,140 the take-home is $48,623, which is worth about $48,092 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $62,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arizona ranks 36 of 45 for tool and die makers, with a median of $59,140 — about 7.67% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, tool and die makers sits at 240 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.
- Arizona's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for tool and die makers on its $59,140 median: $48,623 retained after tax becomes $48,092 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $62,290 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,200 |
| This salary | $59,140 |
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 | $48,623 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,699 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,052 |
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 | $57,801 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,691 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,140 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,720 and the ninetieth is $87,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $48,623 take-home in Arizona comes from $59,140. 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 240 of 491.
- Two cautions on $48,092, the adjusted value of that $59,140 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arizona. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 240 of 491 locally.
- The Arizona median of $59,140 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,720 to $87,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $48,623, from $59,140, 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 240 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 45 for it.
- This $48,092 adjusted figure, worked from $59,140, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 240 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 240 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 $62,290, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,720 at the bottom tenth to $87,200 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 $48,092 — 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, $48,623 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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $62,290. 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 ($38,720) and the ninetieth ($87,200) 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 $48,092 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 $48,623 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.