Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,159
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$8,791
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,422
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
$48,950
Kept after tax
$40,159
Worth in national money
$46,422
State rank
48
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 $48,950, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 18.51% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 236 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $48,950 you keep $40,159 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,422 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 48 of 51 for security and fire alarm systems installers, with a median of $48,950 — about 18.51% 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.
- Position 236 of 489 in Arkansas places security and fire alarm systems installers 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $40,159 after the full tax stack, from $48,950. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,422 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,190 |
| This salary | $48,950 |
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 | $40,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,511 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,704 |
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 | $47,267 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,480 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,950 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,760 and the ninetieth is $67,190 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,159 take-home in Arkansas comes from $48,950. 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 236 of 489.
- Two cautions on $46,422, the adjusted value of that $48,950 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 236 of 489 locally.
- The Arkansas median of $48,950 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,760 to $67,190. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $40,159, from $48,950, 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 236 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- This $46,422 adjusted figure, worked from $48,950, 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 236 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 236 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,920, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,760 at the bottom tenth to $67,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $46,422 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, $40,159 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 $50,920. 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 ($35,760 to $67,190) 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 $46,422 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 $40,159 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.