Best states for therapist pay / Arkansas
Where therapists earn the most in Arkansas
Texarkana pays the most on paper and still goes furthest — $121,025 after tax and cost of living. Below it the order reshuffles: $8,320separates the state's metros.
Pay after state income tax, divided by local cost of living. Hatched areas have no cost-of-living index.
One dot per metro, sized by how many physical therapists work there.
Hover or tap any area to see its full breakdown.
Every Arkansas area, ranked
By real value. Each profession ranked on its own.
Physical therapists
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texarkana | $105,580 | $101,675 | 84.0 | $121,025 |
| 2 | Jonesboro | $100,010 | $96,322 | 85.9 | $112,164 |
| 3 | Fort Smith | $98,730 | $95,092 | 85.9 | $110,717 |
| 4 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | $104,500 | $100,637 | 91.4 | $110,163 |
| 5 | Hot Springs | $97,260 | $93,680 | 85.7 | $109,273 |
| 6 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | $99,940 | $96,255 | 89.4 | $107,711 |
| 7 | Memphis | $100,000 | $96,313 | 92.2 | $104,484 |
| — | South Arkansasno COL data | $99,580 | $95,909 | — | — |
| — | North Arkansasno COL data | $95,830 | $92,305 | — | — |
| — | East Arkansasno COL data | $95,580 | $92,065 | — | — |
| — | West Arkansasno COL data | $84,700 | $81,609 | — | — |
Ranked by real value — pay after Arkansasincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Occupational therapists
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texarkana | $106,060 | $102,136 | 84.0 | $121,574 |
| 2 | Jonesboro | $106,360 | $102,425 | 85.9 | $119,270 |
| 3 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | $107,830 | $103,837 | 91.4 | $113,666 |
| 4 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | $104,680 | $100,810 | 89.4 | $112,809 |
| 5 | Fort Smith | $97,740 | $94,141 | 85.9 | $109,609 |
| 6 | Memphis | $99,960 | $96,274 | 92.2 | $104,443 |
| 7 | Hot Springs | $82,410 | $79,409 | 85.7 | $92,627 |
| — | South Arkansasno COL data | $111,310 | $107,182 | — | — |
| — | West Arkansasno COL data | $111,300 | $107,172 | — | — |
| — | East Arkansasno COL data | $107,650 | $103,664 | — | — |
| — | North Arkansasno COL data | $105,940 | $102,021 | — | — |
Ranked by real value — pay after Arkansasincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Speech-language pathologists
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texarkana | $99,990 | $96,303 | 84.0 | $114,630 |
| 2 | Jonesboro | $91,020 | $87,683 | 85.9 | $102,104 |
| 3 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | $86,380 | $83,224 | 89.4 | $93,129 |
| 4 | Fort Smith | $81,300 | $78,342 | 85.9 | $91,214 |
| 5 | Memphis | $86,120 | $82,974 | 92.2 | $90,014 |
| 6 | Hot Springs | $79,060 | $76,189 | 85.7 | $88,871 |
| 7 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | $80,510 | $77,583 | 91.4 | $84,926 |
| — | North Arkansasno COL data | $86,140 | $82,993 | — | — |
| — | East Arkansasno COL data | $80,370 | $77,448 | — | — |
| — | West Arkansasno COL data | $73,810 | $71,144 | — | — |
| — | South Arkansasno COL data | $65,290 | $62,956 | — | — |
Ranked by real value — pay after Arkansasincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Physical therapist assistants (PTA)
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texarkana | $73,560 | $70,904 | 84.0 | $84,397 |
| 2 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | $73,100 | $70,462 | 91.4 | $77,131 |
| 3 | Hot Springs | $63,280 | $61,025 | 85.7 | $71,183 |
| 4 | Fort Smith | $63,210 | $60,958 | 85.9 | $70,973 |
| 5 | Jonesboro | $62,700 | $60,467 | 85.9 | $70,412 |
| 6 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | $64,110 | $61,822 | 89.4 | $69,180 |
| 7 | Memphis | $61,560 | $59,372 | 92.2 | $64,409 |
| — | South Arkansasno COL data | $69,460 | $66,964 | — | — |
| — | East Arkansasno COL data | $65,870 | $63,514 | — | — |
| — | North Arkansasno COL data | $64,410 | $62,111 | — | — |
| — | West Arkansasno COL data | $61,340 | $59,160 | — | — |
Ranked by real value — pay after Arkansasincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Occupational therapy assistants (COTA)
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texarkana | $79,720 | $76,824 | 84.0 | $91,444 |
| 2 | Fort Smith | $80,660 | $77,727 | 85.9 | $90,498 |
| 3 | Jonesboro | $78,660 | $75,805 | 85.9 | $88,273 |
| 4 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | $80,910 | $77,967 | 91.4 | $85,347 |
| 5 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | $78,720 | $75,863 | 89.4 | $84,892 |
| 6 | Memphis | $64,010 | $61,726 | 92.2 | $66,964 |
| — | East Arkansasno COL data | $79,600 | $76,708 | — | — |
| — | South Arkansasno COL data | $79,600 | $76,708 | — | — |
| — | North Arkansasno COL data | $77,420 | $74,613 | — | — |
Ranked by real value — pay after Arkansasincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
How this is calculated
Median pay is the median annual wage from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (May 2025 release), for each profession in each Arkansas area.
After taxsubtracts modeled state income tax for a single filer taking the standard deduction, computed at each area's own median wage rather than copied down from the state figure. Federal tax and FICA are excluded — they don't vary by area, so they don't change the ranking.
Real valuedivides after-tax pay by that metro's own cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the US average is 100. Metro-grain, not the statewide figure used on the national map.
Map areas are the exact areas BLS reports wages for, built by dissolving Census county boundaries with the BLS OEWS area definitions — so the map and the wage data describe the same geography by construction.
Metros that cross a state line — the New York and Philadelphia metros on this page, for example — carry one BLS wage figure covering the whole metro, and their state income tax is modeled at Arkansasrates, which is the right read for a clinician living on this side of the line. They're marked in the table.
Limits: single filer only; BLS blends full-time, part-time and PRN and every experience level into one median; and 4 nonmetropolitan regions carry BLS pay but no cost-of-living index, so they are shown unranked rather than estimated. This is a comparison of typical pay, not personalized tax advice.
What should you be getting paid in Arkansas?
Compare local salaries by experience and practice setting.
Compare local salaries