Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,043
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$4,187
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,949
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
$29,230
Kept after tax
$25,043
Worth in national money
$28,949
State rank
43
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for substitute teachers, short-term is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $29,230. That is 43 of 50 states, and about 29.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations Arkansas publishes, substitute teachers, short-term lands at 463. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,230 you keep $25,043, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,949 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,080, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For substitute teachers, short-term, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $29,230, ranking 43 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 29.85%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, this work ranks 463 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for substitute teachers, short-term on $29,230 is $25,043. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,949 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 $39,080 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,040 |
| This salary | $29,230 |
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 | $25,043 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,666 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,537 |
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 | $28,456 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,068 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of substitute teachers, short-term in Arkansas earn under $29,230 and half over. The published range runs $24,440 at the tenth percentile to $36,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $25,043, worked from $29,230. 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 463 of 489.
- Two cautions on $28,949, the adjusted value of that $29,230 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 463 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for substitute teachers, short-term in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,440 to $36,040; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Arkansas take-home of $25,043, on $29,230 for work ranking 463 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 463 of 489 in the state.
- This $28,949 adjusted figure, worked from $29,230, 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 463 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 463 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 $39,080, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $24,440 and the top tenth $36,040, so most people doing this work in Arkansas sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $28,949 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 $25,043.
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 $39,080. 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 ($24,440 to $36,040) 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 $28,949 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 $25,043 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.