Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $90K, rent takes 28.3% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,637/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates typically earn — is $74K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,416/month. At HUD’s $1,637/month FMR, rent would take 37% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 42% below the national median — $90K here vs. $154K nationally.

Prescott Valley-Prescott pays $90K median vs. the U.S. average of $154K — that’s -42%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 98.25), the purchasing-power equivalent is $92K — below the national median.

The median is $89,990 a year, that works out to about $43 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $73,600, and experienced judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates can clear $170,970. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,787/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,637/month, which eats 28.3% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Prescott Valley-Prescott has a Regional Price Parity of 98.25 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates salary is worth about $91,593 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.