Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,993
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$11,787
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,790
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
$61,780
Kept after tax
$49,993
Worth in national money
$57,790
State rank
33
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,780, ranking 33 of 49 states — about 6.78% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 138 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,780 you keep $49,993 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,790 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $63,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 33 of 49 for career/technical education teachers, secondary school, with a median of $61,780 — about 6.78% 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.
- Career/technical education teachers, secondary school ranks 138 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $49,993 after the full tax stack, from $61,780. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,790 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,620 |
| This salary | $61,780 |
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 | $49,993 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,820 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,463 |
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 | $59,506 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,494 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,780 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,130 and the ninetieth is $76,620 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $49,993 take-home in Arkansas comes from $61,780. 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 138 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,790 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 138.
- The Arkansas median of $61,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,130 to $76,620. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $49,993, from $61,780, 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 138 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,790, worked from $61,780, 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 138 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $51,130 at the tenth percentile, $76,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $57,790 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $49,993.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,130 to $76,620) 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 $57,790 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 $49,993 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.