Buyers and Purchasing Agents in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,856
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$16,014
21.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,191
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
$75,870
Kept after tax
$59,856
Worth in national money
$69,191
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arkansas is 24 of 51 states for buyers and purchasing agents, with a middle wage of $75,870. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 84 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $75,870 you keep $59,856, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $69,191 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $86,180, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 24 of 51 for buyers and purchasing agents at $75,870. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Arkansas, buyers and purchasing agents ranks 84 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for buyers and purchasing agents on $75,870 is $59,856. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $69,191 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 $86,180 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Buyers and Purchasing Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,830 |
| This salary | $75,870 |
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 | $59,856 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,205 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,178 |
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 | $72,532 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,153 |
| 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 buyers and purchasing agents in Arkansas earn under $75,870 and half over. The published range runs $42,710 at the tenth percentile to $135,830 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $59,856 take-home in Arkansas comes from $75,870. 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 84 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $69,191 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 84.
- Figures are distribution medians for buyers and purchasing agents in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,710 to $135,830; 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 $59,856, from $75,870, 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 84 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $69,191, worked from $75,870, 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 84 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $86,180, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,710 and the top tenth $135,830 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $69,191 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $59,856 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $86,180. 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 ($42,710) and the ninetieth ($135,830) 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 $69,191 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 $59,856 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.