Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,515
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$8,595
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,678
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
$48,110
Kept after tax
$39,515
Worth in national money
$45,678
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $48,110. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 21.14% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 242 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,110 the take-home is $39,515; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,678 would nationally. The average comes to $51,150, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $48,110, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 21.14%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 242 of 489 in Arkansas places heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers 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.
- Post-tax income for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Arkansas, on $48,110, is $39,515 — equivalent to $45,678 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 $51,150 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,290 |
| This salary | $48,110 |
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 | $39,515 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,836 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,654 |
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 | $46,465 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,419 |
| 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 $48,110. The published range is $37,040 up to $69,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $39,515, from $48,110, 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 242 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $45,678, the adjusted value of that $48,110 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 242 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,040 to $69,290. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,515 from $48,110. 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 242 of 489 locally.
- This $45,678 adjusted figure, worked from $48,110, 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 242 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 242 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $51,150, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,040 and the top tenth $69,290, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $45,678.
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 $39,515.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $51,150. 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 ($37,040 to $69,290) 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 $45,678 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 $39,515 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.