Speech-Language Pathologists in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,995
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$18,585
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,131
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
$83,580
Kept after tax
$64,995
Worth in national money
$75,131
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for speech-language pathologists is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $83,580. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 14.6% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Arkansas reports, speech-language pathologists comes in at 59 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $83,580 you keep $64,995, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $75,131 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $90,490, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For speech-language pathologists, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $83,580, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 14.6%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Speech-language pathologists ranks 59 of 489 occupations by median in Arkansas, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for speech-language pathologists on $83,580 is $64,995. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $75,131 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 $90,490 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Speech-Language Pathologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,420 |
| This salary | $83,580 |
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 | $64,995 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,629 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,537 |
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 | $79,836 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,648 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $83,580 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $56,250 and the ninetieth is $134,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $64,995, worked from $83,580. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 59 of 489.
- Two cautions on $75,131, the adjusted value of that $83,580 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 59 of 489 locally.
- The Arkansas median of $83,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $56,250 to $134,420. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Arkansas take-home of $64,995, on $83,580 for work ranking 59 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 59 of 489 in the state.
- This $75,131 adjusted figure, worked from $83,580, 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 59 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 59 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 $90,490, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $56,250 at the bottom tenth to $134,420 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $75,131 in national terms.
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 $64,995.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $90,490. 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 ($56,250) and the ninetieth ($134,420) 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 $75,131 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 $64,995 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.