Museum Technicians and Conservators in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,280
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,000
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,626
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
$41,280
Kept after tax
$34,280
Worth in national money
$39,626
State rank
36
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $41,280, ranking 36 of 45 states — about 19.75% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 325 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $41,280 you keep $34,280, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,626 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $43,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 36 of 45 for museum technicians and conservators, with a median of $41,280 — about 19.75% 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 325 of 489 in Arkansas places museum technicians and conservators 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 museum technicians and conservators on $41,280 is $34,280. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,626 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 $43,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,640 |
| This salary | $41,280 |
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 | $34,280 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,348 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,250 |
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 | $39,950 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,930 |
| 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 $41,280. The published range is $30,130 up to $62,640, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $34,280 take-home in Arkansas comes from $41,280. 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 325 of 489.
- Two cautions on $39,626, the adjusted value of that $41,280 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arkansas. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 325 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for museum technicians and conservators in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,130 to $62,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $34,280, from $41,280, 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 325 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 45 for it.
- This $39,626 adjusted figure, worked from $41,280, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 325 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 325 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 $43,100, 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 $30,130 and the top tenth $62,640 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $39,626.
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 $34,280.
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 $43,100. 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 ($30,130) and the ninetieth ($62,640) 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 $39,626 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 $34,280 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.