Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,030
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$15,100
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,080
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
$73,130
Kept after tax
$58,030
Worth in national money
$67,080
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $73,130. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 18.88% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 92 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $73,130 you keep $58,030 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,080 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $77,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- For occupational health and safety specialists, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $73,130, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 18.88%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, occupational health and safety specialists ranks 92 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $58,030 after the full tax stack, from $73,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,080 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $77,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $113,920 |
| This salary | $73,130 |
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 | $58,030 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,277 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,051 |
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 | $69,936 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,977 |
| 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 $73,130. The published range is $47,810 up to $113,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $58,030 take-home in Arkansas comes from $73,130. 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 92 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,080 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 92.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational health and safety specialists in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,810 to $113,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $58,030, from $73,130, 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 92 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 51 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,080, worked from $73,130, 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 92 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 $77,580, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $47,810, the highest tenth $113,920, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $67,080 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 $58,030.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $77,580. 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 ($47,810) and the ninetieth ($113,920) 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 $67,080 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 $58,030 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.