Childcare Workers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,443
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$4,007
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,255
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
$28,450
Kept after tax
$24,443
Worth in national money
$28,255
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for childcare workers is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $28,450. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 18.67% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations Arkansas publishes, childcare workers lands at 468. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $28,450 you keep $24,443 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,255 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $28,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- For childcare workers, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $28,450, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 18.67%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, this work ranks 468 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $24,443 after the full tax stack, from $28,450. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,255 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $28,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $33,640 |
| This salary | $28,450 |
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 | $24,443 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,039 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,489 |
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 | $27,727 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,009 |
| 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 childcare workers in Arkansas earn under $28,450 and half over. The published range runs $23,940 at the tenth percentile to $33,640 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $24,443, worked from $28,450. 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 468 of 489.
- Two cautions on $28,255, the adjusted value of that $28,450 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 468 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for childcare workers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $23,940 to $33,640; 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.
- The Arkansas take-home of $24,443, on $28,450 for work ranking 468 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 468 of 489 in the state.
- This $28,255 adjusted figure, worked from $28,450, 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 468 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 468 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $23,940 at the tenth percentile, $33,640 at the ninetieth.
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 $28,255 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 $24,443.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,940 to $33,640) 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 $28,255 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 $24,443 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.