Technical Writers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,533
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$11,647
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,258
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
$61,180
Kept after tax
$49,533
Worth in national money
$57,258
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for technical writers is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $61,180. That is 45 of 45 states, and about 32.32% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 144 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,180 you keep $49,533 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,258 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $63,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- For technical writers, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $61,180, ranking 45 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 32.32%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Technical writers ranks 144 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $49,533 after the full tax stack, from $61,180. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,258 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,330 |
| This salary | $61,180 |
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 | $49,533 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,338 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,428 |
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 | $58,934 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,360 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $61,180. The published range is $45,170 up to $81,330, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $49,533, from $61,180, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 144 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,258 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 144.
- Reported values are medians; for technical writers in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,170 to $81,330. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,533 from $61,180. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 144 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,258, worked from $61,180, 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 144 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 $63,460, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,170 and the top tenth $81,330, 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 $57,258 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 $49,533.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $63,460. 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 ($45,170 to $81,330) 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 $57,258 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 $49,533 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.