Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,171
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$5,749
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,877
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
$35,920
Kept after tax
$30,171
Worth in national money
$34,877
State rank
50
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 $35,920, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 10.74% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Arkansas, this one sits low: 405 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,920 you keep $30,171 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,877 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 50 of 51 for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand, with a median of $35,920 — about 10.74% 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.
- Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand occupies position 405 of 489 in Arkansas's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $30,171 after the full tax stack, from $35,920. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,877 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,920 |
| This salary | $35,920 |
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 | $30,171 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,042 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,933 |
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 | $34,837 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,547 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,920 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,090 and the ninetieth is $45,920 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,171 take-home in Arkansas comes from $35,920. 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 405 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,877, the adjusted value of that $35,920 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 405 of 489 in the state.
- The Arkansas median of $35,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,090 to $45,920. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $30,171, from $35,920, 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 405 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $34,877 — the adjusted value of that $35,920 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 405 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,090 at the bottom tenth to $45,920 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $34,877.
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 $30,171 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,090 to $45,920) 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 $34,877 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 $30,171 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.