Tool and Die Makers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,206
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$10,634
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,413
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
$56,840
Kept after tax
$46,206
Worth in national money
$53,413
State rank
40
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for tool and die makers. The middle earner takes $56,840, ranking 40 of 45 states — about 11.26% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 172 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,840 the take-home is $46,206; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,413 would nationally. The average lands at $56,370, below the middle of the range.
- Arkansas ranks 40 of 45 for tool and die makers, with a median of $56,840 — about 11.26% 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.
- Tool and die makers ranks 172 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.
- Post-tax income for tool and die makers in Arkansas, on $56,840, is $46,206 — equivalent to $53,413 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 $56,370 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,890 |
| This salary | $56,840 |
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 | $46,206 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,851 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,171 |
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 | $54,793 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,044 |
| 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 tool and die makers in Arkansas earn under $56,840 and half over. The published range runs $30,830 at the tenth percentile to $76,890 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $46,206 take-home in Arkansas comes from $56,840. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 172 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,413 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 172.
- Figures are distribution medians for tool and die makers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,830 to $76,890; 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.
- Retained pay of $46,206, from $56,840, assumes a single Arkansas filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 172 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,413, worked from $56,840, 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 172 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $30,830 and the top tenth $76,890 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $53,413.
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 $46,206.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($30,830) and the ninetieth ($76,890) 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 $53,413 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 $46,206 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.