Optometrists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$92,194
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$32,276
25.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$106,573
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
$124,470
Kept after tax
$92,194
Worth in national money
$106,573
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for optometrists. The middle earner takes $124,470, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 8.86% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Arkansas reports, optometrists comes in at 13 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $124,470 you keep $92,194 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $106,573 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $125,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 41 of 51 for optometrists, with a median of $124,470 — about 8.86% 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.
- Optometrists ranks 13 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $92,194 after the full tax stack, from $124,470. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $106,573 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $125,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $181,520 |
| This salary | $124,470 |
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 | $92,194 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,341 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,431 |
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 | $118,500 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,565 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of optometrists in Arkansas earn under $124,470 and half over. The published range runs $57,960 at the tenth percentile to $181,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $92,194, from $124,470, 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 13 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $106,573, the adjusted value of that $124,470 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 13 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for optometrists in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $57,960 to $181,520; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $92,194 from $124,470. 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 13 of 489 locally.
- This $106,573 adjusted figure, worked from $124,470, 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 13 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 13 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $57,960, the highest tenth $181,520, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $106,573 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 $92,194.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($57,960) and the ninetieth ($181,520) 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 $106,573 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 $92,194 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.