Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,032
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$12,408
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,147
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
$64,440
Kept after tax
$52,032
Worth in national money
$60,147
State rank
9
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $64,440, ranking 9 of 47 states and sitting about 11.03% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 122 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 $64,440 you keep $52,032, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $60,147 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $64,900, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas's median for chemical equipment operators and tenders is $64,440, about 11.03% above the national figure and 9 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Arkansas, chemical equipment operators and tenders ranks 122 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 chemical equipment operators and tenders on $64,440 is $52,032. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $60,147 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 $64,900 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,560 |
| This salary | $64,440 |
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 | $52,032 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,958 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,621 |
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 | $62,043 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,090 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,440 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,800 and the ninetieth is $87,560 — 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 $52,032, worked from $64,440. 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 122 of 489.
- Two cautions on $60,147, the adjusted value of that $64,440 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 122 of 489 locally.
- The Arkansas median of $64,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,800 to $87,560. 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 $52,032, on $64,440 for work ranking 122 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 122 of 489 in the state.
- This $60,147 adjusted figure, worked from $64,440, 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 122 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 122 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $41,800 at the bottom tenth to $87,560 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $60,147.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arkansas's own levy, $52,032 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 ($41,800 to $87,560) 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 $60,147 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 $52,032 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.