How much does an Accountant make in Arkansas?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $64,180 for Accountants in Arkansas as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $50,300 and the 75th-percentile is $89,170.

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Accountant salary in Arkansas?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 86.8 for Arkansas), the real-wage equivalent is $73,932 — what the $64,180 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $57,943 to $102,719.

How many Accountants does Arkansas employ?

BLS OES counts 7,710 Accountants employed in Arkansas in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Why is the BEA RPP for Arkansas different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Arkansas's overall index of 86.8 reflects rents 56.7, services 81.9, and goods 93.1.

What are the limits of these Accountant salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Does CPA licensure raise accountant pay in Arkansas?

BLS aggregates accountants and auditors under SOC 13-2011 — CPA-licensed and non-CPA pay are not split. In practice, CPA-licensed accountants in Arkansas typically earn 10-20% above the all-accountant median, and the gap widens at the senior/manager level where CPA is functionally required for partner-track public accounting and CFO roles. Arkansas requires 150 semester hours of education to sit for the exam (the AICPA Uniform CPA standard).

How Much Do Accountants Make in Arkansas? $64K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

BLS reports Arkansas Accountant median pay at $64,180. Adjusted for state cost of living, real purchasing power equals $73,932.
Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $9,752.
Wage envelope: $41,670 (P10) to $118,730 (P90), with quartiles at $50,300 and $89,170.
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #49 of 51; nominal rank is #50.

Wage breakdown — Arkansas

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$41,670	$48,001
P25 (lower quartile)	$50,300	$57,943
P50 (median)	$64,180	$73,932
P75 (upper quartile)	$89,170	$102,719
P90 (top tier)	$118,730	$136,770
Mean	$75,720	$87,225
Employment	7,710 Accountants in Arkansas

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Arkansas index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	86.8
Goods	93.1
Services	81.9
Rents	56.7

Arkansas sits below the national baseline (RPP 86.8), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 56.7.

After-tax take-home — Arkansas (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Accountant)	$64,180	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$5,564	8.7% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,004	0–3.9% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,910	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$51,703	80.6% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$59,559	÷ (86.8 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Arkansas state-tax burden means for Accountant take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.1% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $51,703 (80.6% of gross). After the 86.8 RPP, real take-home is $59,559.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $81,680 for Accountants with mean pay of $93,520 and total employment of 1,448,290. Arkansas sits at #50 on nominal pay and #49 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Arkansas climbs 1 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an Accountant make in Arkansas?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $64,180 for Accountants in Arkansas as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $50,300 and the 75th-percentile is $89,170.
What is the real (cost-adjusted) Accountant salary in Arkansas?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 86.8 for Arkansas), the real-wage equivalent is $73,932 — what the $64,180 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $57,943 to $102,719.
How many Accountants does Arkansas employ?: BLS OES counts 7,710 Accountants employed in Arkansas in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Why is the BEA RPP for Arkansas different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Arkansas's overall index of 86.8 reflects rents 56.7, services 81.9, and goods 93.1.
What are the limits of these Accountant salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Does CPA licensure raise accountant pay in Arkansas?: BLS aggregates accountants and auditors under SOC 13-2011 — CPA-licensed and non-CPA pay are not split. In practice, CPA-licensed accountants in Arkansas typically earn 10-20% above the all-accountant median, and the gap widens at the senior/manager level where CPA is functionally required for partner-track public accounting and CFO roles. Arkansas requires 150 semester hours of education to sit for the exam (the AICPA Uniform CPA standard).

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 13-2011, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Arkansas Accountant pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.