Surveying and Mapping Technicians in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,181
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$8,189
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,136
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
$46,370
Kept after tax
$38,181
Worth in national money
$44,136
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for surveying and mapping technicians. The middle earner takes $46,370, ranking 48 of 50 states — about 14.51% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Surveying and mapping technicians ranks 263 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,370 you keep $38,181 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,136 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,190, since top earners drag the number up.
- Arkansas ranks 48 of 50 for surveying and mapping technicians, with a median of $46,370 — about 14.51% 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 263 of 489 in Arkansas places surveying and mapping technicians 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 $38,181 after the full tax stack, from $46,370. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,136 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,190 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Surveying and Mapping Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,040 |
| This salary | $46,370 |
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 | $38,181 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,438 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,551 |
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 | $44,805 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,295 |
| 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 surveying and mapping technicians in Arkansas earn under $46,370 and half over. The published range runs $36,770 at the tenth percentile to $71,040 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 $38,181, worked from $46,370. 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 263 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,136, the adjusted value of that $46,370 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 263 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for surveying and mapping technicians in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,770 to $71,040; 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 $38,181, on $46,370 for work ranking 263 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 263 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $44,136 — the adjusted value of that $46,370 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 263 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 $50,190, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,770 at the bottom tenth to $71,040 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $44,136.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arkansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,181 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $50,190. 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 ($36,770) and the ninetieth ($71,040) 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 $44,136 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 $38,181 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.