Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,651
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$13,409
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,174
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
$68,060
Kept after tax
$54,651
Worth in national money
$63,174
State rank
37
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $68,060, 37 of 49 states and about 13.13% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 105 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $68,060 the take-home is $54,651; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $63,174 would nationally. The average lands at $66,730, below the middle of the range.
- Arkansas's $68,060 median for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other places it 37 of 49 states, about 13.13% 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.
- Within Arkansas, engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other ranks 105 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in Arkansas, on $68,060, is $54,651 — equivalent to $63,174 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 $66,730 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $91,170 |
| This salary | $68,060 |
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 | $54,651 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,710 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,815 |
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 | $65,303 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,651 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $68,060 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,720 and the ninetieth is $91,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $54,651, from $68,060, 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 105 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $63,174, the adjusted value of that $68,060 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 105 of 489 locally.
- The Arkansas median of $68,060 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,720 to $91,170. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $54,651 from $68,060. 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 105 of 489 locally.
- This $63,174 adjusted figure, worked from $68,060, 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 105 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 105 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $41,720, the highest tenth $91,170, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $63,174 in national terms.
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 $54,651.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($41,720) and the ninetieth ($91,170) 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 $63,174 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 $54,651 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.