How much does a Police Officer make in Arkansas?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $48,090 for Police Officers in Arkansas as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $40,760 and the 75th-percentile is $57,100.

How are Arkansas Police Officer salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

Where does Arkansas rank for Police Officer pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Arkansas ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

How wide is the wage spread in Arkansas?

P10 to P90 spans $35,950 to $69,420. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Is Arkansas a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Police Officers?

Yes — the BEA RPP of 86.8 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $48,090 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $55,397. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Police Officers comparing offers across regions.

What are the limits of these Police Officer 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.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Arkansas?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Arkansas.

How Much Do Police Officers Make in Arkansas? $48K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

Median Police Officer salary in Arkansas: $48,090 nominal, $55,397 real (BEA RPP basis).
Quartile range $40,760 (bottom 25%) to $57,100 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $35,950 to $69,420.
Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $7,307.
Nominal: #50/51 · Real: #50/51 — ranking shifts by 0 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — Arkansas

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$35,950	$41,412
P25 (lower quartile)	$40,760	$46,953
P50 (median)	$48,090	$55,397
P75 (upper quartile)	$57,100	$65,776
P90 (top tier)	$69,420	$79,968
Mean	$49,700	$57,251
Employment	5,490 Police Officers 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 (Police Officer)	$48,090	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$3,633	7.6% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$1,376	0–3.9% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$3,679	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$39,402	81.9% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$45,389	÷ (86.8 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Arkansas state-tax burden means for Police Officer take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 2.9% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $39,402 (81.9% of gross). After the 86.8 RPP, real take-home is $45,389.

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 $76,290 for Police Officers with mean pay of $79,320 and total employment of 666,990. Arkansas sits at #50 on nominal pay and #50 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Police Officer make in Arkansas?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $48,090 for Police Officers in Arkansas as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $40,760 and the 75th-percentile is $57,100.
How are Arkansas Police Officer salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
Where does Arkansas rank for Police Officer pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Arkansas ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
How wide is the wage spread in Arkansas?: P10 to P90 spans $35,950 to $69,420. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Is Arkansas a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Police Officers?: Yes — the BEA RPP of 86.8 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $48,090 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $55,397. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Police Officers comparing offers across regions.
What are the limits of these Police Officer 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.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Arkansas?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Arkansas.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 33-3051, 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 Police Officer 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.