Lawyers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,192
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$23,688
24.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,919
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
$98,880
Kept after tax
$75,192
Worth in national money
$86,919
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays lawyers a middle wage of $98,880, 50 of 51 states and about 38.07% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 39 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $98,880 you keep $75,192, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $86,919 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $131,680, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas's $98,880 median for lawyers places it 50 of 51 states, about 38.07% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within Arkansas, lawyers ranks 39 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for lawyers on $98,880 is $75,192. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $86,919 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 $131,680 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $220,660 |
| This salary | $98,880 |
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 | $75,192 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,392 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,248 |
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 | $94,331 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,631 |
| 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 lawyers in Arkansas earn under $98,880 and half over. The published range runs $49,900 at the tenth percentile to $220,660 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 $75,192, worked from $98,880. 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 39 of 489.
- Two cautions on $86,919, the adjusted value of that $98,880 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 39 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for lawyers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,900 to $220,660; 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 $75,192, on $98,880 for work ranking 39 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 39 of 489 in the state.
- This $86,919 adjusted figure, worked from $98,880, 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 39 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 39 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 $131,680 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $49,900, the highest tenth $220,660, 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 $86,919 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, $75,192 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 $131,680. 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 ($49,900) and the ninetieth ($220,660) 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 $86,919 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 $75,192 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.