Interpreters and Translators in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,872
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$9,618
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,559
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
$52,490
Kept after tax
$42,872
Worth in national money
$49,559
State rank
30
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arkansas pays interpreters and translators around $52,490 at the midpoint, 30 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 201.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $52,490 you keep $42,872, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $49,559 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,270, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For interpreters and translators the Arkansas median is $52,490, ranking 30 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, interpreters and translators sits at 201 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.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for interpreters and translators on $52,490 is $42,872. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $49,559 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 $55,270 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,770 |
| This salary | $52,490 |
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 | $42,872 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,356 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,913 |
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 | $50,644 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,733 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $52,490 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,170 and the ninetieth is $80,770 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $42,872, worked from $52,490. 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 201 of 489.
- Two cautions on $49,559, the adjusted value of that $52,490 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 201 of 489 locally.
- The Arkansas median of $52,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,170 to $80,770. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arkansas take-home of $42,872, on $52,490 for work ranking 201 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 201 of 489 in the state.
- This $49,559 adjusted figure, worked from $52,490, 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 201 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 201 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 $55,270 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 $32,170 at the bottom tenth to $80,770 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $49,559 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $42,872 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $55,270. 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 ($32,170) and the ninetieth ($80,770) 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 $49,559 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 $42,872 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.