Respiratory Therapists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,523
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$15,347
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,650
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
$73,870
Kept after tax
$58,523
Worth in national money
$67,650
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for respiratory therapists is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $73,870. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 10.22% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arkansas. It ranks 90 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $73,870 you keep $58,523 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,650 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $72,740.
- For respiratory therapists, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $73,870, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.22%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, respiratory therapists ranks 90 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $58,523 after the full tax stack, from $73,870. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,650 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $72,740 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,480 |
| This salary | $73,870 |
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 | $58,523 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,798 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,085 |
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 | $70,637 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,024 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $73,870 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $59,550 and the ninetieth is $93,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $58,523, from $73,870, 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 90 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $67,650, the adjusted value of that $73,870 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 90 of 489 in the state.
- The Arkansas median of $73,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $59,550 to $93,480. 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 $58,523 from $73,870. 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 90 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $67,650 — the adjusted value of that $73,870 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 90 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $59,550 at the tenth percentile, $93,480 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 $67,650 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, $58,523 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 ($59,550 to $93,480) 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 $67,650 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 $58,523 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.