Animal Caretakers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,810
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$4,420
14.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,835
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$30,230
Kept after tax
$25,810
Worth in national money
$29,835
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for animal caretakers. The middle earner takes $30,230, ranking 40 of 51 states — about 14.51% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Arkansas, this one sits low: 454 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $30,230 you keep $25,810, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $29,835 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $34,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 40 of 51 for animal caretakers, with a median of $30,230 — about 14.51% 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.
- Animal caretakers occupies position 454 of 489 in Arkansas's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $30,230 is $25,810. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $29,835 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $34,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,990 |
| This salary | $30,230 |
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 Arkansas | $25,810 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,470 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,596 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $29,409 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,140 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of animal caretakers in Arkansas earn under $30,230 and half over. The published range runs $27,290 at the tenth percentile to $47,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $25,810 take-home in Arkansas comes from $30,230. 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 454 of 489.
- Two cautions on $29,835, the adjusted value of that $30,230 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arkansas. 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 454 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for animal caretakers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,290 to $47,990; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $25,810, from $30,230, assumes a single Arkansas 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 454 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- This $29,835 adjusted figure, worked from $30,230, 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 454 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 454 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $34,110, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $27,290 and the top tenth $47,990, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $29,835.
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 Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $25,810 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Arkansas is $34,110. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,290 to $47,990) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $29,835 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $25,810 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.