Art Directors in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,230
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$14,700
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,156
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
$71,930
Kept after tax
$57,230
Worth in national money
$66,156
State rank
41
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for art directors. The middle earner takes $71,930, ranking 41 of 46 states — about 37.37% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Arkansas reports, art directors comes in at 96 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $71,930 the take-home is $57,230; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,156 would nationally. The average comes to $82,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas ranks 41 of 46 for art directors, with a median of $71,930 — about 37.37% 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.
- Art directors ranks 96 of 489 occupations by median in Arkansas, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for art directors in Arkansas, on $71,930, is $57,230 — equivalent to $66,156 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $82,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Art Directors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,030 |
| This salary | $71,930 |
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 | $57,230 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,433 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,995 |
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 | $68,799 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,900 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $71,930. The published range is $52,990 up to $130,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $57,230, worked from $71,930. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 96 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,156, the adjusted value of that $71,930 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 96 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for art directors in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $52,990 to $130,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arkansas take-home of $57,230, on $71,930 for work ranking 96 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 96 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $66,156 — the adjusted value of that $71,930 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 96 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 $82,350, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $52,990 at the bottom tenth to $130,030 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $66,156.
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 $57,230 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $82,350. 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 ($52,990) and the ninetieth ($130,030) 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.
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 $66,156 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 $57,230 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.