Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,123
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,867
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,913
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
$44,990
Kept after tax
$37,123
Worth in national money
$42,913
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $44,990. That is 48 of 50 states, and about 24.13% 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 290.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,990 the take-home is $37,123; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,913 would nationally. The average comes to $49,050, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $44,990, ranking 48 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 24.13%. 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, education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare sits at 290 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 education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare in Arkansas, on $44,990, is $37,123 — equivalent to $42,913 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 $49,050 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,850 |
| This salary | $44,990 |
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 | $37,123 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,329 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,470 |
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 | $43,489 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,196 |
| 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 and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare in Arkansas earn under $44,990 and half over. The published range runs $28,780 at the tenth percentile to $77,850 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,123 take-home in Arkansas comes from $44,990. 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 290 of 489.
- Two cautions on $42,913, the adjusted value of that $44,990 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 290 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,780 to $77,850; 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 $37,123, from $44,990, 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 290 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 50 for it.
- This $42,913 adjusted figure, worked from $44,990, 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 290 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 290 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 $49,050 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $28,780 at the bottom tenth to $77,850 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,913 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $37,123.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $49,050. 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 ($28,780) and the ninetieth ($77,850) 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 $42,913 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 $37,123 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.