Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,379
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,031
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,741
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
$41,410
Kept after tax
$34,379
Worth in national money
$39,741
State rank
47
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $41,410. That is 47 of 50 states, and about 25.48% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 324.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $41,410 the take-home is $34,379; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $39,741 would nationally. The average comes to $43,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For legal secretaries and administrative assistants, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $41,410, ranking 47 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 25.48%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, legal secretaries and administrative assistants sits at 324 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.
- Post-tax income for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in Arkansas, on $41,410, is $34,379 — equivalent to $39,741 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $43,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,060 |
| This salary | $41,410 |
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 | $34,379 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,453 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,258 |
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 | $40,074 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,940 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $41,410. The published range is $31,250 up to $58,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $34,379, from $41,410, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 324 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $39,741, the adjusted value of that $41,410 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 324 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,250 to $58,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,379 from $41,410. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 324 of 489 locally.
- This $39,741 adjusted figure, worked from $41,410, 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 324 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 324 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 $43,660, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,250 at the tenth percentile, $58,060 at the ninetieth.
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 $39,741.
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 $34,379 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $43,660. 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 ($31,250 to $58,060) 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 $39,741 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 $34,379 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.