Electrical Engineers in Arkansas

A pale wooden scale model and metal measuring tools on an engineering workbench.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$73,846

after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax

Tax takes

$23,014

23.8% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$85,363

Arkansas costs less than average

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

$96,860

Kept after tax

$73,846

Worth in national money

$85,363

State rank

48

of 49 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for electrical engineers. The middle earner takes $96,860, ranking 48 of 49 states — about 19.7% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
  • Within Arkansas this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, electrical engineers ranks 44 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
  • Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $96,860 the take-home is $73,846; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $85,363 would nationally. The average comes to $99,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Arkansas ranks 48 of 49 for electrical engineers, with a median of $96,860 — about 19.7% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
  • Ranked against every occupation Arkansas publishes a median for, electrical engineers sits 44 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.
  • Post-tax income for electrical engineers in Arkansas, on $96,860, is $73,846 — equivalent to $85,363 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 $99,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Electrical Engineers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$67,920
Half earn under$96,860
Top tenth earn over$136,770
This salary$96,860

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

Compare with
+$3,125take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Arkansas$73,846
Take-home in Texas$76,971
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$6,154

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

Moving to
$0$105,361
$105,361in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$92,418
Raise you would need+$8,501
Prices in Texas97 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 electrical engineers in Arkansas earn under $96,860 and half over. The published range runs $67,920 at the tenth percentile to $136,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $73,846, worked from $96,860. 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 44 of 489.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $85,363 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 44.
  • Figures are distribution medians for electrical engineers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $67,920 to $136,770; 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.
  • The Arkansas take-home of $73,846, on $96,860 for work ranking 44 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 44 of 489 in the state.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $85,363, worked from $96,860, 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 44 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 $99,960, 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 — $67,920 at the tenth percentile, $136,770 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 $85,363 in national terms.

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, $73,846 remains.

Why is this job missing from some states?

Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.

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 $99,960. 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 ($67,920 to $136,770) 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 $85,363 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 $73,846 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.