Manicurists and Pedicurists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,843
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$3,847
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,562
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
$27,690
Kept after tax
$23,843
Worth in national money
$27,562
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays manicurists and pedicurists a middle wage of $27,690, 47 of 49 states and about 22.57% 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, manicurists and pedicurists ranks 475. 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 $27,690 you keep $23,843, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,562 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,490, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas's $27,690 median for manicurists and pedicurists places it 47 of 49 states, about 22.57% 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, manicurists and pedicurists ranks 475 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 manicurists and pedicurists on $27,690 is $23,843. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,562 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 $31,490 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,060 |
| This salary | $27,690 |
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 | $23,843 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,413 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,439 |
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 | $26,998 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,930 |
| 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 $27,690. The published range is $23,930 up to $49,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $23,843, worked from $27,690. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 475 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,562 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 475.
- Reported values are medians; for manicurists and pedicurists in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,930 to $49,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arkansas take-home of $23,843, on $27,690 for work ranking 475 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 475 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,562, worked from $27,690, 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 475 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 $31,490, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $23,930 and the top tenth $49,060 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $27,562 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 $23,843.
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 49 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 $31,490. 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 ($23,930) and the ninetieth ($49,060) 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 $27,562 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 $23,843 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.