Materials Engineers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,538
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$25,362
24.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,787
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
$103,900
Kept after tax
$78,538
Worth in national money
$90,787
State rank
26
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas sits in the middle of the pack for materials engineers. The median is $103,900, ranking 26 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Arkansas reports, materials engineers comes in at 32 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $103,900 the take-home is $78,538; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $90,787 would nationally. The average comes to $112,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas occupies the middle band for materials engineers: a median of $103,900, ranking 26 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Materials engineers ranks 32 of 489 occupations by median in Arkansas, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for materials engineers in Arkansas, on $103,900, is $78,538 — equivalent to $90,787 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 $112,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $80,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $159,440 |
| This salary | $103,900 |
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 | $78,538 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,924 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,482 |
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 | $99,087 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,953 |
| 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 $103,900. The published range is $80,120 up to $159,440, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $78,538, from $103,900, 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 32 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 $90,787 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 32.
- Reported values are medians; for materials engineers in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $80,120 to $159,440. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $78,538 from $103,900. 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 32 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $90,787, worked from $103,900, 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 32 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 $112,240, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $80,120 at the bottom tenth to $159,440 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $90,787 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $78,538 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $112,240. 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 ($80,120) and the ninetieth ($159,440) 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 $90,787 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 $78,538 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.