Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,801
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,769
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,541
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
$44,570
Kept after tax
$36,801
Worth in national money
$42,541
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,570, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 8.24% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 296 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,570 you keep $36,801, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,541 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 48 of 51 for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers, with a median of $44,570 — about 8.24% 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 296 of 489 in Arkansas places inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers 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.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers on $44,570 is $36,801. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,541 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 $46,380 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,910 |
| This salary | $44,570 |
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 | $36,801 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,992 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,445 |
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 | $43,088 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,166 |
| 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 inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Arkansas earn under $44,570 and half over. The published range runs $33,890 at the tenth percentile to $61,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $36,801, worked from $44,570. 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 296 of 489.
- Two cautions on $42,541, the adjusted value of that $44,570 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 296 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,890 to $61,910; 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.
- The Arkansas take-home of $36,801, on $44,570 for work ranking 296 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 296 of 489 in the state.
- This $42,541 adjusted figure, worked from $44,570, 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 296 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 296 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 $46,380, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $33,890 at the bottom tenth to $61,910 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,541 in national terms.
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, $36,801 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 $46,380. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,890 to $61,910) 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 $42,541 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 $36,801 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.