Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,461
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$11,929
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,330
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
$62,390
Kept after tax
$50,461
Worth in national money
$58,330
State rank
45
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $62,390, ranking 45 of 46 states — about 25.98% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 132.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $62,390 you keep $50,461 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $58,330 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $79,820, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 45 of 46 for sociology teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $62,390 — about 25.98% 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.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, sociology teachers, postsecondary sits at 132 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 $50,461 after the full tax stack, from $62,390. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,330 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $79,820 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,310 |
| This salary | $62,390 |
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 | $50,461 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,310 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,499 |
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 | $60,088 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,631 |
| 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 $62,390. The published range is $46,630 up to $125,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $50,461, from $62,390, 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 132 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,330 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 132.
- Reported values are medians; for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,630 to $125,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,461 from $62,390. 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 132 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,330, worked from $62,390, 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 132 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $79,820 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $46,630 at the bottom tenth to $125,310 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $58,330 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, $50,461 remains.
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 46 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 $79,820. 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 ($46,630) and the ninetieth ($125,310) 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 $58,330 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 $50,461 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.