Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,828
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$19,502
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,250
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
$86,330
Kept after tax
$66,828
Worth in national money
$77,250
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $86,330, 47 of 51 states and about 18.46% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Arkansas this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 53 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $86,330 you keep $66,828, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $77,250 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $90,510, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas's $86,330 median for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary places it 47 of 51 states, about 18.46% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation Arkansas publishes a median for, education administrators, kindergarten through secondary sits 53 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary on $86,330 is $66,828. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $77,250 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 $90,510 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,410 |
| This salary | $86,330 |
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 | $66,828 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,563 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,665 |
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 | $82,441 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,825 |
| 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 education administrators, kindergarten through secondary in Arkansas earn under $86,330 and half over. The published range runs $68,090 at the tenth percentile to $107,410 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $66,828, from $86,330, 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 53 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 $77,250 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 53.
- Figures are distribution medians for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $68,090 to $107,410; 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 $66,828 from $86,330. 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 53 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $77,250, worked from $86,330, 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 53 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $90,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $68,090 at the tenth percentile, $107,410 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 $77,250 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $66,828 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $90,510. 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 ($68,090 to $107,410) 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 $77,250 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 $66,828 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.