Education Administrators, Postsecondary in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,436
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$16,804
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,017
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
$78,240
Kept after tax
$61,436
Worth in national money
$71,017
State rank
51
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 $78,240, 51 of 51 states and about 25.19% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Arkansas reports, this job comes in at 74 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $78,240 the take-home is $61,436; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $71,017 would nationally. The average comes to $102,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas's $78,240 median for education administrators, postsecondary places it 51 of 51 states, about 25.19% 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.
- Education administrators, postsecondary ranks 74 of 489 occupations by median in Arkansas, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for education administrators, postsecondary in Arkansas, on $78,240, is $61,436 — equivalent to $71,017 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 $102,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Education Administrators, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,240 |
| This salary | $78,240 |
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 | $61,436 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,872 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,289 |
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 | $74,777 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,305 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $78,240. The published range is $51,910 up to $166,240, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $61,436, worked from $78,240. 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 74 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $71,017, the adjusted value of that $78,240 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 74 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for education administrators, postsecondary in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,910 to $166,240. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arkansas take-home of $61,436, on $78,240 for work ranking 74 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 74 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $71,017 — the adjusted value of that $78,240 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 74 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $102,280, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $51,910, the highest tenth $166,240, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $71,017.
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, $61,436 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 $102,280. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($51,910) and the ninetieth ($166,240) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $71,017 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 $61,436 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.