Firefighters in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,061
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$6,629
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,217
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
$39,690
Kept after tax
$33,061
Worth in national money
$38,217
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for firefighters. The middle earner takes $39,690, ranking 44 of 50 states — about 33.05% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Firefighters ranks 334 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,690 you keep $33,061 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,217 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,380, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 44 of 50 for firefighters, with a median of $39,690 — about 33.05% 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.
- Position 334 of 489 in Arkansas places firefighters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $33,061 after the full tax stack, from $39,690. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,217 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,380 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,860 |
| This salary | $39,690 |
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 | $33,061 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,071 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,156 |
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 | $38,433 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,817 |
| 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 $39,690. The published range is $28,680 up to $60,860, 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 $33,061, worked from $39,690. 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 334 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,217, the adjusted value of that $39,690 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 334 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for firefighters in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,680 to $60,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arkansas take-home of $33,061, on $39,690 for work ranking 334 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 334 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $38,217 — the adjusted value of that $39,690 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 334 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 $43,380 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $28,680 and the top tenth $60,860 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $38,217 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 $33,061.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $43,380. 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 ($28,680) and the ninetieth ($60,860) 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 $38,217 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 $33,061 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.