Sales and Related Workers, All Other in Arkansas

A bright independent shop with household goods on wooden shelves.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$22,896

after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax

Tax takes

$3,594

13.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$26,467

Arkansas costs less than average

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

$26,490

Kept after tax

$22,896

Worth in national money

$26,467

State rank

48

of 48 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $26,490, ranking 48 of 48 states — about 45.13% 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: 485 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $26,490 you keep $22,896 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,467 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,250, since top earners drag the number up.
  • Arkansas ranks 48 of 48 for sales and related workers, all other, with a median of $26,490 — about 45.13% 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.
  • Sales and related workers, all other occupies position 485 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.
  • Retained pay in Arkansas is $22,896 after the full tax stack, from $26,490. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,467 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.

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Pay band: Sales and Related Workers, All Other

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$24,960
Half earn under$26,490
Top tenth earn over$69,430
This salary$26,490

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

Compare with
+$529take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Arkansas$22,896
Take-home in Texas$23,425
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,361

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

Moving to
$0$29,296
$29,296in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$25,848
Raise you would need+$2,806
Prices in Texas97 vs 87

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $26,490 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,960 and the ninetieth is $69,430 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $22,896, worked from $26,490. 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 485 of 489.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,467 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 485.
  • The Arkansas median of $26,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,960 to $69,430. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
  • The Arkansas take-home of $22,896, on $26,490 for work ranking 485 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 485 of 489 in the state.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,467, worked from $26,490, 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 485 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 $43,250, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $24,960, the highest tenth $69,430, 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 $26,467 in national terms.

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, $22,896 remains.

Why is this job missing from some states?

A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.

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 $43,250. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?

Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($24,960) and the ninetieth ($69,430) 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 $26,467 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 $22,896 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.