Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,909
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$8,411
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,978
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
$47,320
Kept after tax
$38,909
Worth in national money
$44,978
State rank
20
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,320, ranking 20 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 255.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,320 the take-home is $38,909; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $44,978 would nationally. The average comes to $50,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas occupies the middle band for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders: a median of $47,320, ranking 20 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 255 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.
- Post-tax income for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Arkansas, on $47,320, is $38,909 — equivalent to $44,978 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $50,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,920 |
| This salary | $47,320 |
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 | $38,909 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,202 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,607 |
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 | $45,712 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,363 |
| 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 cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Arkansas earn under $47,320 and half over. The published range runs $38,590 at the tenth percentile to $64,920 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $38,909, from $47,320, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 255 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,978 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 255.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,590 to $64,920; 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.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,909 from $47,320. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 255 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,978, worked from $47,320, 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 255 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 $50,750 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,590 at the tenth percentile, $64,920 at the ninetieth.
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 $44,978.
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, $38,909 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $50,750. 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 ($38,590 to $64,920) 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 $44,978 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 $38,909 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.