History Teachers, Postsecondary in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,323
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$8,537
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,456
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
$47,860
Kept after tax
$39,323
Worth in national money
$45,456
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $47,860, 45 of 45 states and about 42.9% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 244.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,860 you keep $39,323 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,456 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,650, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas's $47,860 median for history teachers, postsecondary places it 45 of 45 states, about 42.9% 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.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, history teachers, postsecondary sits at 244 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 $39,323 after the full tax stack, from $47,860. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,456 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,650 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: History Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,470 |
| This salary | $47,860 |
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 | $39,323 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,636 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,639 |
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 | $46,227 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,401 |
| 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 $47,860. The published range is $22,880 up to $82,470, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $39,323, from $47,860, 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 244 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,456, the adjusted value of that $47,860 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 244 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for history teachers, postsecondary in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,880 to $82,470. 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 $39,323 from $47,860. 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 244 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $45,456 — the adjusted value of that $47,860 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 244 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 $52,650 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,880 at the bottom tenth to $82,470 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $45,456 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $39,323 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,650. 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 ($22,880) and the ninetieth ($82,470) 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 $45,456 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 $39,323 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.