Live in Oklahoma, work in Arkansas
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Arkansas takes
$1,761
on wages earned there
Oklahoma takes
$438
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,200
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itOklahoma charges more, so its credit covers everything Arkansas takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Oklahoma 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
- Crossing into Arkansas for work does not raise your state tax at all. Oklahoma asks for more than Arkansas does, so the credit it gives you absorbs the whole Arkansas bill. You end the year at $2,200 either way. The one thing the commute does cost you is a second tax return.
- This is the busiest way into Arkansas. 22,076 jobs in the state belong to Oklahoma residents, more than any other state sends. It is worth knowing that the rules below are not an edge case — they apply to a lot of people.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Arkansas takes its non-resident share first — $1,761 at the reference salary — and Oklahoma, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,200, identical to what an earner living and working in Oklahoma would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into Arkansas, this is the largest single flow: 22,076 jobs held by Oklahoma residents, ahead of all 5 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in Arkansas appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,875
- Yours$58,718
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.83% | $2,875 |
| Yours78.29% | $58,718 |
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
| Arkansas takes, on wages earned there | $1,761 |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma charges its residents | $2,200 |
| Less the credit Oklahoma gives | $1,761 |
| Total state tax | $2,200 |
| If you also worked in Oklahoma | $2,200 |
| Difference | $0 |
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 Arkansas 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 Oklahoma residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Arkansas is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Oklahoma. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Oklahoma and Arkansas takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- 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 Arkansas or Oklahoma carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Arkansas and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Oklahoma limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Arkansas portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Arkansas 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 Oklahoma to Arkansas 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 Arkansas'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 Oklahoma and Arkansas?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Arkansas taxes what you earn inside it. Oklahoma taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Arkansas already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,200 a year on this route.
Does working in Arkansas cost me anything extra?
Nothing extra, on this route. You end the year owing $2,200, exactly what you would owe if the job were in Oklahoma. That is not true of every crossing — plenty of them do cost money — but this one does not. What it does cost you is time at tax filing, because two states may each want a return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Oklahoma and Arkansas?
Usually yes, and it catches people out. Oklahoma wants a return because you live there. Arkansas usually wants one too, because you earned money inside it — even in the cases where you end up owing it nothing. Filing in a state and paying it are separate things, and the return is often what proves you do not owe.
What if I work from home in Oklahoma some days instead of going to Arkansas?
Normally, days worked at home in Oklahoma belong to Oklahoma, and only the days you spend in Arkansas are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Arkansas's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Arkansas on a source basis, Oklahoma 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, $2,200 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Oklahoma's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Arkansas's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,200. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Arkansas.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Oklahoma requires a resident return reporting all income; Arkansas 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 Oklahoma fall outside Arkansas'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 Arkansas throughout.