Library Technicians in Arkansas

Books, colored pencils and a globe in a bright classroom.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$24,537

after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax

Tax takes

$4,033

14.1% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$28,363

Arkansas costs less than average

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

$28,570

Kept after tax

$24,537

Worth in national money

$28,363

State rank

49

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays library technicians a middle wage of $28,570, 49 of 51 states and about 35.91% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
  • Within Arkansas this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, library technicians ranks 466. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
  • Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,570 you keep $24,537, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,363 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,420, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Arkansas's $28,570 median for library technicians places it 49 of 51 states, about 35.91% 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.
  • Against every occupation Arkansas reports, library technicians ranks 466 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
  • After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for library technicians on $28,570 is $24,537. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,363 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 $31,420 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Library Technicians

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$25,800
Half earn under$28,570
Top tenth earn over$39,010
This salary$28,570

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

Compare with
+$599take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Arkansas$24,537
Take-home in Texas$25,136
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,497

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

Moving to
$0$31,589
$31,589in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$27,840
Raise you would need+$3,019
Prices in Texas97 vs 87

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $28,570 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,800 and the ninetieth is $39,010 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
  • In Arkansas the take-home figure of $24,537, from $28,570, 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 466 of 489 occupations here.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,363 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 466.
  • The Arkansas median of $28,570 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,800 to $39,010. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
  • Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,537 from $28,570. 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 466 of 489 locally.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,363, worked from $28,570, 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 466 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 $31,420, 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?

The range here is narrow. From $25,800 at the bottom tenth to $39,010 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 $28,363.

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, $24,537 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 $31,420. 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 ($25,800 to $39,010) 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 $28,363 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 $24,537 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.