Live in Arkansas, work in Missouri
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Missouri takes
$1,883
on wages earned there
Arkansas takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$1,883
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$121
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youMissouri charges more than Arkansas would, and Arkansas only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Arkansas bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Here is the thing people get wrong about Arkansas and Missouri. Moving somewhere cheaper does not help if the job stays put. The state where you work takes its share first, and your home state only refunds up to what it charges itself. That leaves $121 a year that exists purely because the job is across the line. All in, $1,883.
- 11,789 jobs is the size of this crossing from Arkansas into Missouri. Smaller than the famous ones, and governed identically. The only practical difference is familiarity — fewer people at your workplace will have done this before.
- Missouri taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and Arkansas taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: Arkansas credits tax paid to Missouri only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $1,883 against $1,761 for the same earner working at home — $121 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in Missouri changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 11,789 jobs in Missouri held by Arkansas residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,316
- Yours$59,276
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.09% | $2,316 |
| Yours79.03% | $59,276 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Missouri takes, on wages earned there | $1,883 |
|---|---|
| Arkansas charges its residents | $1,761 |
| Less the credit Arkansas gives | $1,761 |
| Total state tax | $1,883 |
| If you also worked in Arkansas | $1,761 |
| Difference | $121 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Missouri is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Arkansas residents.
- The figures take the simple case: one job, in Missouri, worked in person. Money from several states makes the credit a proportion instead of a cap. Working remotely from Arkansas can pull you under a different rule entirely, depending on the state.
- The dollars rest on one assumed salary of sixty thousand. Double your pay and they do not simply double, because both states charge more on higher slices of income. What tends to stay put is which side of the Arkansas and Missouri comparison you are on.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Missouri or Arkansas carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Missouri and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Arkansas limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Missouri portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Missouri rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Arkansas to Missouri comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Missouri's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Arkansas and Missouri?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Arkansas credits the tax Missouri collected, capped at its own charge on that income. The practical result is one bill at the higher of the two levels: $1,883 for the year.
Would moving out of Arkansas lower my state tax if I keep working in Missouri?
Probably not, and this is the part people get wrong. Missouri taxes the wages because that is where you earn them, whoever you are and wherever you sleep. Your home state only ever credits you up to its own bill. So moving somewhere cheaper changes which government keeps the money, not how much leaves your pay. What would change it is the job moving, not you.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Arkansas and Missouri?
Expect two. Living in Arkansas means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Missouri usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Arkansas some days instead of going to Missouri?
Working from home usually moves that day's pay out of Missouri and into Arkansas alone. A handful of states disagree and tax remote days as if you had commuted. This page assumes you actually travel to Missouri, so if a lot of your week is at home the split will differ from what you see here.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Missouri on a source basis, Arkansas on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $1,883 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. Missouri's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at Missouri's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Arkansas requires a resident return reporting all income; Missouri requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Arkansas fall outside Missouri's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Missouri throughout.