Maintenance Workers, Machinery in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,455
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$9,795
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,232
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
$53,250
Kept after tax
$43,455
Worth in national money
$50,232
State rank
41
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for maintenance workers, machinery. The middle earner takes $53,250, ranking 41 of 46 states — about 12.49% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Maintenance workers, machinery ranks 196 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,250 you keep $43,455, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,232 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 41 of 46 for maintenance workers, machinery, with a median of $53,250 — about 12.49% 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.
- Position 196 of 489 in Arkansas places maintenance workers, machinery in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for maintenance workers, machinery on $53,250 is $43,455. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,232 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 $55,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Maintenance Workers, Machinery
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,750 |
| This salary | $53,250 |
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 | $43,455 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,966 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,958 |
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 | $51,369 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,787 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,250 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,410 and the ninetieth is $73,750 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $43,455 take-home in Arkansas comes from $53,250. 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 196 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,232, the adjusted value of that $53,250 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 196 of 489 in the state.
- The Arkansas median of $53,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,410 to $73,750. 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 $43,455, from $53,250, 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 196 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $50,232 — the adjusted value of that $53,250 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 196 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 $55,500, 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 — $41,410 at the tenth percentile, $73,750 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $50,232 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $43,455.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $55,500. 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 ($41,410 to $73,750) 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 $50,232 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 $43,455 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.