Community Health Workers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,047
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,843
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,825
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
$44,890
Kept after tax
$37,047
Worth in national money
$42,825
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for community health workers is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $44,890. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 13.42% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 291.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,890 you keep $37,047, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,825 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For community health workers, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $44,890, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 13.42%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, community health workers sits at 291 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for community health workers on $44,890 is $37,047. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,825 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 $50,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Community Health Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,720 |
| This salary | $44,890 |
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 | $37,047 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,249 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,464 |
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 | $43,394 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,189 |
| 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 community health workers in Arkansas earn under $44,890 and half over. The published range runs $38,680 at the tenth percentile to $69,720 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,047 take-home in Arkansas comes from $44,890. 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 291 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,825, the adjusted value of that $44,890 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 291 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for community health workers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,680 to $69,720; 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 $37,047, from $44,890, 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 291 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $42,825 — the adjusted value of that $44,890 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 291 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 $50,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,680 and the top tenth $69,720, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $42,825 in national terms.
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, $37,047 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $50,140. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,680 to $69,720) 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 $42,825 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 $37,047 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.