School Psychologists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,718
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$12,312
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,784
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
$64,030
Kept after tax
$51,718
Worth in national money
$59,784
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for school psychologists is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $64,030. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 33.3% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. School psychologists ranks 124 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $64,030 you keep $51,718, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $59,784 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $61,640, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For school psychologists, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $64,030, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 33.3%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 124 of 489 in Arkansas places school psychologists 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.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for school psychologists on $64,030 is $51,718. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $59,784 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 $61,640 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,110 |
| This salary | $64,030 |
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 | $51,718 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,628 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,596 |
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 | $61,652 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,998 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,030 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,770 and the ninetieth is $81,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $51,718, from $64,030, 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 124 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $59,784, the adjusted value of that $64,030 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 124 of 489 locally.
- The Arkansas median of $64,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,770 to $81,110. 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 $51,718 from $64,030. 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 124 of 489 locally.
- This $59,784 adjusted figure, worked from $64,030, 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 124 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 124 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 $61,640, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,770 and the top tenth $81,110 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $59,784 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, $51,718 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.
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 $61,640. 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 ($31,770) and the ninetieth ($81,110) 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 $59,784 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 $51,718 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.