Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,720
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$6,220
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,667
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
$37,940
Kept after tax
$31,720
Worth in national money
$36,667
State rank
32
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arkansas is 32 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $37,940. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 362 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,940 you keep $31,720 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,667 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $37,490.
- Arkansas ranks 32 of 50 for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service at $37,940. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service ranks 362 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $31,720 after the full tax stack, from $37,940. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,667 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,490 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,470 |
| This salary | $37,940 |
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 | $31,720 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,665 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,052 |
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 | $36,764 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,691 |
| 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 $37,940. The published range is $25,710 up to $46,470, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,720 take-home in Arkansas comes from $37,940. 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 362 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,667 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 362.
- Reported values are medians; for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,710 to $46,470. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,720, from $37,940, 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 362 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,667, worked from $37,940, 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 362 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $25,710 at the tenth percentile, $46,470 at the ninetieth.
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 $36,667 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, $31,720 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($25,710 to $46,470) 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 $36,667 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 $31,720 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.