Private Detectives and Investigators in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,239
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$8,511
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,359
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
$47,750
Kept after tax
$39,239
Worth in national money
$45,359
State rank
30
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Arkansas is 30 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $47,750. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 249 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,750 you keep $39,239, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,359 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,940, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 30 of 49 for private detectives and investigators at $47,750. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Private detectives and investigators ranks 249 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for private detectives and investigators on $47,750 is $39,239. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,359 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 $57,940 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,930 |
| This salary | $47,750 |
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 | $39,239 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,547 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,633 |
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 | $46,122 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,394 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,750 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,990 and the ninetieth is $107,930 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $39,239, from $47,750, 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 249 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,359 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 249.
- The Arkansas median of $47,750 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,990 to $107,930. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,239 from $47,750. 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 249 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,359, worked from $47,750, 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 249 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 $57,940, 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 $35,990 and the top tenth $107,930 — 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 $45,359.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,239 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $57,940. 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 ($35,990) and the ninetieth ($107,930) 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 $45,359 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 $39,239 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.