Tax Preparers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,497
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$5,543
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,097
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
$35,040
Kept after tax
$29,497
Worth in national money
$34,097
State rank
46
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for tax preparers. The middle earner takes $35,040, ranking 46 of 48 states — about 36.2% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Arkansas, this one sits low: 421 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,040 the take-home is $29,497; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,097 would nationally. The average comes to $43,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arkansas ranks 46 of 48 for tax preparers, with a median of $35,040 — about 36.2% 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.
- Tax preparers occupies position 421 of 489 in Arkansas's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for tax preparers in Arkansas, on $35,040, is $29,497 — equivalent to $34,097 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $43,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,420 |
| This salary | $35,040 |
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 | $29,497 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,335 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,881 |
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 | $33,997 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,484 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,040 as a midpoint for Arkansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,990 and the ninetieth is $66,420 — 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 $29,497, worked from $35,040. 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 421 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,097 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 421.
- The Arkansas median of $35,040 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,990 to $66,420. 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 $29,497, on $35,040 for work ranking 421 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 421 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,097, worked from $35,040, 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 421 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 $43,350, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $28,990, the highest tenth $66,420, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $34,097 in national terms.
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, $29,497 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 48 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 $43,350. 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 ($28,990) and the ninetieth ($66,420) 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 $34,097 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 $29,497 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.