Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,617
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,103
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,016
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
$41,720
Kept after tax
$34,617
Worth in national money
$40,016
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $41,720, 48 of 50 states and about 19.16% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 322.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $41,720 you keep $34,617 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,016 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,410, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas's $41,720 median for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders places it 48 of 50 states, about 19.16% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 322 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $34,617 after the full tax stack, from $41,720. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,016 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,410 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,750 |
| This salary | $41,720 |
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 | $34,617 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,702 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,276 |
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 | $40,370 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,962 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $41,720 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,970 and the ninetieth is $55,750 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $34,617 take-home in Arkansas comes from $41,720. 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 322 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,016 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 322.
- The Arkansas median of $41,720 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,970 to $55,750. 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 $34,617, from $41,720, 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 322 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,016, worked from $41,720, 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 322 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 $43,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,970 at the bottom tenth to $55,750 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $40,016 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $34,617.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $43,410. 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 ($30,970 to $55,750) 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 $40,016 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 $34,617 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.