Physical Therapist Assistants in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,093
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$12,427
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,218
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
$64,520
Kept after tax
$52,093
Worth in national money
$60,218
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arkansas pays physical therapist assistants around $64,520 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 121 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $64,520 the take-home is $52,093; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $60,218 would nationally. The average lands at $64,500, below the middle of the range.
- For physical therapist assistants the Arkansas median is $64,520, ranking 28 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Arkansas, physical therapist assistants ranks 121 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.
- Post-tax income for physical therapist assistants in Arkansas, on $64,520, is $52,093 — equivalent to $60,218 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 $64,500 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,280 |
| This salary | $64,520 |
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 | $52,093 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,022 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,625 |
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 | $62,120 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,108 |
| 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 $64,520. The published range is $31,540 up to $85,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $52,093 take-home in Arkansas comes from $64,520. 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 121 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $60,218, the adjusted value of that $64,520 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 121 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for physical therapist assistants in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,540 to $85,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $52,093, from $64,520, 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 121 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $60,218 — the adjusted value of that $64,520 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 121 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,540, the highest tenth $85,280, 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 $60,218 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 $52,093.
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 ($31,540) and the ninetieth ($85,280) 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 $60,218 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 $52,093 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.