Human Resources Specialists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,804
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$10,206
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,791
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
$55,010
Kept after tax
$44,804
Worth in national money
$51,791
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for human resources specialists is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $55,010. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 27.56% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 187 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $55,010 you keep $44,804, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,791 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $62,410, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For human resources specialists, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $55,010, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 27.56%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Human resources specialists ranks 187 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for human resources specialists on $55,010 is $44,804. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,791 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $62,410 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Human Resources Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,990 |
| This salary | $55,010 |
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 | $44,804 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,381 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,063 |
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 | $53,048 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,913 |
| 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 $55,010. The published range is $32,030 up to $99,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $44,804 take-home in Arkansas comes from $55,010. 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 187 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,791, the adjusted value of that $55,010 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 187 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for human resources specialists in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,030 to $99,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $44,804, from $55,010, 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 187 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 51 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $51,791 — the adjusted value of that $55,010 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 187 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $62,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $32,030, the highest tenth $99,990, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $51,791 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, $44,804 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.
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 $62,410. 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 ($32,030) and the ninetieth ($99,990) 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 $51,791 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 $44,804 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.