Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,456
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$11,014
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,857
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
$58,470
Kept after tax
$47,456
Worth in national money
$54,857
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arkansas is 16 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $58,470. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 163 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,470 you keep $47,456 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,857 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 16 of 51 for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators at $58,470. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 163 of 489 in Arkansas places postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $47,456 after the full tax stack, from $58,470. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,857 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $58,470 |
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 | $47,456 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,161 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,267 |
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 | $56,348 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,161 |
| 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 $58,470. The published range is $45,530 up to $75,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $47,456 take-home in Arkansas comes from $58,470. 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 163 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,857, the adjusted value of that $58,470 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 163 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,530 to $75,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $47,456, from $58,470, 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 163 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $54,857 — the adjusted value of that $58,470 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 163 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,530 and the top tenth $75,280, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,857 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arkansas's own levy, $47,456 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,530 to $75,280) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
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 $54,857 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 $47,456 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.