Fast Food and Counter Workers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$22,706
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$3,544
13.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,248
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
$26,250
Kept after tax
$22,706
Worth in national money
$26,248
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fast food and counter workers is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $26,250. That is 46 of 51 states, and about 15.87% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations Arkansas publishes, fast food and counter workers lands at 486. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $26,250 you keep $22,706 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,248 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $26,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- For fast food and counter workers, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $26,250, ranking 46 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 15.87%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, this work ranks 486 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $22,706 after the full tax stack, from $26,250. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,248 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $26,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $26,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $32,120 |
| This salary | $26,250 |
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 | $22,706 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $23,227 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,346 |
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 | $25,618 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,781 |
| 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 $26,250. The published range is $23,240 up to $32,120, 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 $22,706, worked from $26,250. 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 486 of 489.
- Two cautions on $26,248, the adjusted value of that $26,250 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 486 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for fast food and counter workers in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,240 to $32,120. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arkansas take-home of $22,706, on $26,250 for work ranking 486 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 486 of 489 in the state.
- This $26,248 adjusted figure, worked from $26,250, 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 486 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 486 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $23,240 and the top tenth $32,120, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $26,248 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, $22,706 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 ($23,240 to $32,120) 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 $26,248 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 $22,706 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.