Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,706
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$4,084
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,559
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
$28,790
Kept after tax
$24,706
Worth in national money
$28,559
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $28,790. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 21.72% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations Arkansas publishes, this job lands at 465. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $28,790 the take-home is $24,706; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $28,559 would nationally. The average comes to $31,380, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For teaching assistants, except postsecondary, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $28,790, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 21.72%. 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 465 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.
- Post-tax income for teaching assistants, except postsecondary in Arkansas, on $28,790, is $24,706 — equivalent to $28,559 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 $31,380 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,360 |
| This salary | $28,790 |
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 | $24,706 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,313 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,510 |
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 | $28,046 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,036 |
| 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 teaching assistants, except postsecondary in Arkansas earn under $28,790 and half over. The published range runs $23,670 at the tenth percentile to $38,360 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 $24,706, worked from $28,790. 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 465 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,559 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 465.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, except postsecondary in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $23,670 to $38,360; 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 $24,706, on $28,790 for work ranking 465 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 465 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,559, worked from $28,790, 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 465 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 $31,380, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $23,670 at the tenth percentile, $38,360 at the ninetieth.
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 $28,559 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 $24,706.
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 $31,380. 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 ($23,670 to $38,360) 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 $28,559 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 $24,706 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.