Marriage and Family Therapists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,955
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$12,385
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,058
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
$64,340
Kept after tax
$51,955
Worth in national money
$60,058
State rank
21
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arkansas is 21 of 45 states for marriage and family therapists, with a middle wage of $64,340. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Marriage and family therapists ranks 123 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $64,340 you keep $51,955 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $60,058 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $68,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 21 of 45 for marriage and family therapists at $64,340. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 123 of 489 in Arkansas places marriage and family therapists 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $51,955 after the full tax stack, from $64,340. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $60,058 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $68,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Marriage and Family Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,900 |
| This salary | $64,340 |
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 | $51,955 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,615 |
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 | $61,948 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,067 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,340 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,520 and the ninetieth is $90,900 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $51,955, from $64,340, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 123 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,058 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 123.
- The Arkansas median of $64,340 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,520 to $90,900. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,955 from $64,340. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 123 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,058, worked from $64,340, 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 123 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 $68,730 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,520 at the bottom tenth to $90,900 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $60,058 in national terms.
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 $51,955.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $68,730. 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 ($47,520 to $90,900) 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 $60,058 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 $51,955 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.