Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,136
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$5,434
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,681
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
$34,570
Kept after tax
$29,136
Worth in national money
$33,681
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $34,570, 47 of 51 states and about 9.38% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Arkansas this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 427. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $34,570 you keep $29,136 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,681 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $33,520.
- Arkansas's $34,570 median for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers places it 47 of 51 states, about 9.38% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Arkansas reports, veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers ranks 427 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $29,136 after the full tax stack, from $34,570. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,681 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,520 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,180 |
| This salary | $34,570 |
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 | $29,136 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,957 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,853 |
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 | $33,549 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,450 |
| 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 veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Arkansas earn under $34,570 and half over. The published range runs $27,860 at the tenth percentile to $42,180 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 $29,136, worked from $34,570. 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 427 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,681, the adjusted value of that $34,570 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 427 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,860 to $42,180; 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 $29,136, on $34,570 for work ranking 427 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 427 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $33,681 — the adjusted value of that $34,570 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 427 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 $33,520, 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 — $27,860 at the tenth percentile, $42,180 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 $33,681 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, $29,136 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $33,520. 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 ($27,860 to $42,180) 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 $33,681 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 $29,136 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.