Food Batchmakers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,524
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$6,466
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,597
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
$38,990
Kept after tax
$32,524
Worth in national money
$37,597
State rank
33
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas sits in the middle of the pack for food batchmakers. The median is $38,990, ranking 33 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 341.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,990 you keep $32,524 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $37,597 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,300, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas occupies the middle band for food batchmakers: a median of $38,990, ranking 33 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, food batchmakers sits at 341 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $32,524 after the full tax stack, from $38,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,597 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,300 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,880 |
| This salary | $38,990 |
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 | $32,524 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,114 |
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 | $37,765 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,767 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 food batchmakers in Arkansas earn under $38,990 and half over. The published range runs $31,290 at the tenth percentile to $48,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,524 take-home in Arkansas comes from $38,990. 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 341 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,597 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 341.
- Figures are distribution medians for food batchmakers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,290 to $48,880; 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.
- Retained pay of $32,524, from $38,990, 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 341 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,597, worked from $38,990, 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 341 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 $40,300 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,290 at the tenth percentile, $48,880 at the ninetieth.
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 $37,597 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $32,524.
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 50 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 $40,300. 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 ($31,290 to $48,880) 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 $37,597 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 $32,524 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.