Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Arkansas scores 86.9 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $65,203 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Arkansas (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 86.9 | 51st of 51 |
| Rents | 58.2 | 49th of 51 |
| Goods | 93.6 | — |
| Other services | 95.3 | — |
Home electricity averaged 12.32 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $3.70 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 1,303,630 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Arkansas, the median pay is $43,630 a year, or $20.98 an hour; that ranks 50th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $27,020 and one in ten more than $94,740.
Arkansas taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 3.7%. The brackets in Arkansas. A single filer on the median $43,630, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $35,990 a year, or $1,384 every two weeks, after $3,056 of federal income tax, $3,338 of Social Security and Medicare and $1,247 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Arkansas.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 35,660 | $26,250 |
| Retail Salespersons | 35,510 | $29,270 |
| General and Operations Managers | 34,570 | $74,050 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 32,220 | $51,550 |
| Office Clerks, General | 29,940 | $37,050 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are registered nurses ($78,940), general and operations managers ($74,050), secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education ($59,660). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 74 Arkansas counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $166,302, and across the 21 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,098 a month. A typical home costs 2.56 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $1,386 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $59,419 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 64.9% of Arkansas's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +3.0% over the past year and +18.0% over five years, and rents +3.6% over the past year.
The most expensive Arkansas counties are Benton County ($386,195), Washington County ($355,205) and Madison County ($273,812); the least expensive are Phillips County ($48,428), Woodruff County ($81,280) and St. Francis County ($82,183).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Arkansas county, that comes to $42,496 a year for one adult and $86,223 for two adults and two children, of which $11,067 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $63,397.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $10,176 | $848 |
| Food | $11,149 | $929 |
| Transportation | $18,560 | $1,547 |
| Healthcare | $17,491 | $1,458 |
| Childcare | $11,067 | $922 |
| Other necessities | $6,657 | $555 |
| Taxes | $10,635 | $886 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 84 colleges in Arkansas, 36 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $16,577 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $34,653. Compare degrees and schools.
| Arkansas County | $119,788 | +1.6% | — | $72,510 | $84,749 |
| Ashley County | $85,669 | +2.6% | — | $60,285 | $85,538 |
| Baxter County | $233,644 | +0.8% | $1,167 | $61,627 | $86,748 |
| Benton County | $386,195 | +2.2% | $1,604 | $103,182 | $101,213 |
| Boone County | $229,550 | +2.4% | — | $69,420 | $85,159 |
| Bradley County | $102,693 | −3.7% | — | $62,877 | $85,713 |
| Calhoun County | $134,292 | +7.4% | — | $72,955 | $90,091 |
| Carroll County | $271,821 | +3.8% | — | $73,830 | $87,671 |
| Chicot County | $91,920 | −7.2% | — | $55,571 | $84,888 |
| Clark County | $164,575 | +3.8% | — | $67,546 | $84,810 |
| Clay County | $120,959 | +3.6% | — | $57,397 | $84,016 |
| Cleburne County | $260,712 | +3.5% | — | $68,688 | $88,420 |
| Cleveland County | $153,077 | +4.5% | — | $69,610 | $88,487 |
| Columbia County | $134,732 | −2.7% | — | $64,147 | $85,497 |
| Conway County | $171,603 | +8.6% | $890 | $61,699 | $84,937 |
| Craighead County | $219,521 | +4.3% | $1,382 | $76,364 | $91,425 |
| Crawford County | $222,088 | +6.5% | $1,063 | $72,308 | $92,063 |
| Crittenden County | $168,152 | +6.5% | $1,098 | $63,203 | $93,890 |
| Cross County | $148,703 | +2.4% | — | $61,695 | $83,387 |
| Dallas County | $118,962 | +2.5% | — | $70,625 | $85,112 |
| Desha County | $96,818 | −1.3% | — | $44,738 | $85,049 |
| Drew County | $157,254 | −0.7% | — | $61,418 | $85,913 |
| Faulkner County | $257,286 | +2.5% | $1,379 | $81,392 | $95,508 |
| Franklin County | $177,934 | +3.7% | — | $63,397 | $85,711 |
| Fulton County | $183,651 | +2.9% | — | $48,635 | $85,264 |
| Garland County | $246,752 | +0.3% | $1,300 | $70,043 | $93,804 |
| Grant County | $212,073 | +8.3% | — | $93,335 | $96,061 |
| Greene County | $194,955 | +2.4% | $1,081 | $66,830 | $85,338 |
| Hempstead County | $122,536 | +3.8% | — | $64,925 | $87,025 |
| Hot Spring County | $164,116 | −2.4% | — | $64,840 | $84,330 |
| Howard County | $161,841 | +2.3% | — | $59,234 | $86,223 |
| Independence County | $176,328 | +6.4% | $861 | $65,797 | $85,517 |
| Izard County | $174,453 | +4.0% | — | $59,230 | $86,670 |
| Jackson County | $96,662 | −6.4% | — | $55,253 | $84,670 |
| Jefferson County | $85,670 | −1.1% | $903 | $61,092 | $88,673 |
| Johnson County | $181,740 | +4.3% | $794 | $59,943 | $85,244 |
| Lafayette County | $98,116 | +3.2% | — | $59,776 | $86,724 |
| Lawrence County | $135,432 | +0.2% | — | $61,609 | $85,591 |
| Lee County | $92,757 | −10.4% | — | $46,875 | $83,078 |
| Lincoln County | $133,644 | +8.2% | — | $61,970 | $88,237 |
| Little River County | $157,795 | +10.1% | — | $73,583 | $91,367 |
| Logan County | $164,848 | +1.1% | — | $70,376 | $85,291 |
| Lonoke County | $231,414 | +4.3% | $1,399 | $85,661 | $97,126 |
| Madison County | $273,812 | +3.8% | — | $61,638 | $93,573 |
| Marion County | $221,609 | −0.3% | — | $58,958 | $87,606 |
| Miller County | $167,755 | +1.3% | $1,204 | $61,140 | $93,239 |
| Mississippi County | $114,890 | +4.6% | $898 | $62,877 | $83,398 |
| Monroe County | $85,544 | −8.1% | — | $68,668 | $83,431 |
| Montgomery County | $217,236 | +8.7% | — | $59,417 | $87,836 |
| Nevada County | — | — | — | $49,454 | $87,015 |
| Newton County | $230,416 | −4.7% | — | $65,455 | $87,996 |
| Ouachita County | $101,182 | +3.6% | — | $63,918 | $84,886 |
| Perry County | $180,577 | +5.4% | — | $74,960 | $91,772 |
| Phillips County | $48,428 | −3.4% | — | $50,477 | $83,011 |
| Pike County | $179,690 | −1.4% | — | $67,609 | $86,976 |
| Poinsett County | $133,275 | +6.0% | — | $61,172 | $88,726 |
| Polk County | $191,925 | +3.0% | — | $61,273 | $86,802 |
| Pope County | $213,899 | +3.0% | $968 | $70,353 | $85,598 |
| Prairie County | $151,846 | +6.3% | — | $80,865 | $87,901 |
| Pulaski County | $211,868 | +4.2% | $1,208 | $83,080 | $94,893 |
| Randolph County | $144,119 | −1.0% | — | $64,860 | $84,634 |
| Saline County | $255,566 | +2.7% | $1,552 | $93,015 | $97,223 |
| Scott County | $158,507 | +9.1% | — | $58,470 | $85,914 |
| Searcy County | $183,723 | +10.7% | — | $53,046 | $87,434 |
| Sebastian County | $204,518 | +3.9% | $1,076 | $71,502 | $82,861 |
| Sevier County | $184,463 | +7.7% | — | $62,031 | $86,848 |
| Sharp County | $147,139 | +1.0% | — | $59,583 | $84,837 |
| St. Francis County | $82,183 | −3.7% | — | $51,295 | $82,882 |
| Stone County | $192,203 | +3.9% | — | $52,620 | $86,486 |
| Union County | $127,316 | +0.5% | — | $66,953 | $86,112 |
| Van Buren County | $172,418 | +2.8% | — | $59,253 | $86,440 |
| Washington County | $355,205 | +4.2% | $1,615 | $84,179 | $95,217 |
| White County | $208,020 | +4.0% | $1,030 | $67,049 | $85,655 |
| Woodruff County | $81,280 | −2.0% | — | $63,362 | $85,574 |
| Yell County | $163,290 | +1.9% | — | $70,415 | $85,074 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
Memphis, TN (typical rent $1,422), Little Rock, AR (typical rent $1,270).
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County figures are medians across Arkansas's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.