Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,452
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$11,318
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,009
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
$59,770
Kept after tax
$48,452
Worth in national money
$56,009
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $59,770. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 7.09% 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 153.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,770 the take-home is $48,452; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $56,009 would nationally. The average lands at $59,370, below the middle of the range.
- For educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $59,770, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.09%. 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, educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors sits at 153 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 educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Arkansas, on $59,770, is $48,452 — equivalent to $56,009 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 $59,370 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,070 |
| This salary | $59,770 |
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 | $48,452 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,205 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,344 |
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 | $57,588 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,254 |
| 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 $59,770. The published range is $38,520 up to $78,070, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $48,452 take-home in Arkansas comes from $59,770. 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 153 of 489.
- Two cautions on $56,009, the adjusted value of that $59,770 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 153 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,520 to $78,070. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $48,452, from $59,770, 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 153 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- This $56,009 adjusted figure, worked from $59,770, 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 153 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 153 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,520 at the bottom tenth to $78,070 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $56,009 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $48,452 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,520 to $78,070) 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 $56,009 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 $48,452 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.