Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,100
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$11,210
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,601
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
$59,310
Kept after tax
$48,100
Worth in national money
$55,601
State rank
28
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arkansas pays this job around $59,310 at the midpoint, 28 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 160.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,310 you keep $48,100, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,601 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $56,260, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For life, physical, and social science technicians, all other the Arkansas median is $59,310, ranking 28 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, life, physical, and social science technicians, all other sits at 160 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.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other on $59,310 is $48,100. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,601 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 $56,260 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,860 |
| This salary | $59,310 |
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 | $48,100 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,836 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,317 |
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 | $57,150 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,221 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,310 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,070 and the ninetieth is $77,860 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $48,100 take-home in Arkansas comes from $59,310. 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 160 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,601 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 160.
- The Arkansas median of $59,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,070 to $77,860. 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 $48,100, from $59,310, 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 160 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,601, worked from $59,310, 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 160 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 $56,260 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 $31,070, the highest tenth $77,860, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Arkansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $55,601 in national terms.
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, $48,100 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $56,260. 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 ($31,070) and the ninetieth ($77,860) 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 $55,601 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 $48,100 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.