Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,442
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$4,308
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,410
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
$29,750
Kept after tax
$25,442
Worth in national money
$29,410
State rank
49
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 $29,750. That is 49 of 51 states, and about 19.25% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations Arkansas publishes, this job lands at 458. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,750 you keep $25,442, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $29,410 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $29,750, ranking 49 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.25%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, this work ranks 458 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners on $29,750 is $25,442. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $29,410 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 $31,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,120 |
| This salary | $29,750 |
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 | $25,442 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,084 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,568 |
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 | $28,951 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,105 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $29,750 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,110 and the ninetieth is $38,120 — 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 $25,442, worked from $29,750. 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 458 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,410 uses one figure for the whole of Arkansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 458.
- The Arkansas median of $29,750 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,110 to $38,120. 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 $25,442, on $29,750 for work ranking 458 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 458 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,410, worked from $29,750, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Arkansas address, on work sitting at 458 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 $31,640, 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 $25,110 and the top tenth $38,120, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $29,410 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, $25,442 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 $31,640. 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 ($25,110 to $38,120) 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 $29,410 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 $25,442 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.