Machinists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,837
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$9,303
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,362
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
$51,140
Kept after tax
$41,837
Worth in national money
$48,362
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for machinists. The middle earner takes $51,140, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 12.95% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 211.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $51,140 the take-home is $41,837; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $48,362 would nationally. The average comes to $55,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas ranks 47 of 51 for machinists, with a median of $51,140 — about 12.95% 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.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, machinists sits at 211 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 machinists in Arkansas, on $51,140, is $41,837 — equivalent to $48,362 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 $55,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Machinists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,400 |
| This salary | $51,140 |
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 | $41,837 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,271 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,834 |
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 | $49,356 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,636 |
| 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 $51,140. The published range is $37,760 up to $78,400, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $41,837 take-home in Arkansas comes from $51,140. 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 211 of 489.
- Two cautions on $48,362, the adjusted value of that $51,140 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 211 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for machinists in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,760 to $78,400. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $41,837, from $51,140, 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 211 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- This $48,362 adjusted figure, worked from $51,140, 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 211 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 211 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 $55,180 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,760 at the bottom tenth to $78,400 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $48,362.
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 $41,837 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.
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 $55,180. 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 ($37,760) and the ninetieth ($78,400) 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 $48,362 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 $41,837 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.