Business Teachers, Postsecondary in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,170
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$12,450
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,306
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
$64,620
Kept after tax
$52,170
Worth in national money
$60,306
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $64,620. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 34.78% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Arkansas reports, this job comes in at 120 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $64,620 the take-home is $52,170; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $60,306 would nationally. The average comes to $90,100, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For business teachers, postsecondary, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $64,620, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 34.78%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Business teachers, postsecondary ranks 120 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 business teachers, postsecondary in Arkansas, on $64,620, is $52,170 — equivalent to $60,306 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 $90,100 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Business Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $167,190 |
| This salary | $64,620 |
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 | $52,170 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,102 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,631 |
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 | $62,215 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,130 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,620 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,500 and the ninetieth is $167,190 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $52,170, worked from $64,620. 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 120 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,306 uses one figure for the whole of Arkansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 120.
- The Arkansas median of $64,620 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,500 to $167,190. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arkansas take-home of $52,170, on $64,620 for work ranking 120 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 120 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,306, worked from $64,620, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Arkansas address, on work sitting at 120 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $90,100 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,500 at the bottom tenth to $167,190 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Arkansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $60,306 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $52,170.
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 $90,100. 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 ($35,500) and the ninetieth ($167,190) 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 $60,306 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 $52,170 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.