Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,482
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$6,148
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,392
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
$37,630
Kept after tax
$31,482
Worth in national money
$36,392
State rank
50
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 $37,630, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 20.85% 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: 371 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,630 the take-home is $31,482; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,392 would nationally. The average comes to $39,890, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas ranks 50 of 51 for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, with a median of $37,630 — about 20.85% 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.
- Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive occupies position 371 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 secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in Arkansas, on $37,630, is $31,482 — equivalent to $36,392 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 $39,890 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,060 |
| This salary | $37,630 |
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 | $31,482 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,416 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,034 |
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 | $36,468 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,669 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $37,630. The published range is $28,540 up to $55,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,482 take-home in Arkansas comes from $37,630. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 371 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,392, the adjusted value of that $37,630 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 371 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,540 to $55,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,482, from $37,630, assumes a single Arkansas filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 371 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $36,392 — the adjusted value of that $37,630 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 371 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 $39,890, 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 — $28,540 at the tenth percentile, $55,060 at the ninetieth.
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 $36,392.
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, $31,482 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 $39,890. 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 ($28,540 to $55,060) 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 $36,392 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 $31,482 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.