Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,957
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$5,683
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,629
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
$35,640
Kept after tax
$29,957
Worth in national money
$34,629
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $35,640, ranking 49 of 51 states — about 28.28% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Arkansas, this one sits low: 412 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,640 the take-home is $29,957; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,629 would nationally. The average comes to $37,250, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas ranks 49 of 51 for refuse and recyclable material collectors, with a median of $35,640 — about 28.28% 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.
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors occupies position 412 of 489 in Arkansas's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Arkansas, on $35,640, is $29,957 — equivalent to $34,629 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 $37,250 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,570 |
| This salary | $35,640 |
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 | $29,957 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,817 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,916 |
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 | $34,570 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,527 |
| 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 refuse and recyclable material collectors in Arkansas earn under $35,640 and half over. The published range runs $26,590 at the tenth percentile to $51,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $29,957, worked from $35,640. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 412 of 489.
- Two cautions on $34,629, the adjusted value of that $35,640 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 412 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,590 to $51,570; 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.
- The Arkansas take-home of $29,957, on $35,640 for work ranking 412 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 412 of 489 in the state.
- This $34,629 adjusted figure, worked from $35,640, 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 412 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 412 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 $37,250, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,590 at the tenth percentile, $51,570 at the ninetieth.
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 $34,629 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, $29,957 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $37,250. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,590 to $51,570) 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 $34,629 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 $29,957 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.