Average Salary in Arkansas (AR)

Arkansas is the corporate home of Walmart — the world's largest private employer — and that single fact shapes more of the state's economy than any other variable. Bentonville and the surrounding Northwest Arkansas metro (Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale) has become an unlikely Fortune 500 cluster: Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt are both headquartered in the same metro, and Walmart's supplier ecosystem pulls dozens of large consumer-goods corporate offices into the region. The $56,335 median household income is well below the national average, but the cost-of-living index of 86 — 14% below the national baseline — means Arkansas consistently ranks as one of the most affordable states to live in. The state income tax was reduced multiple times between 2019 and 2024 and now tops out at 4.7%, with the bottom bracket at 2%. The $11/hour minimum wage is above the federal floor under a 2018 ballot initiative, placing Arkansas above neighbouring Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma on wage policy. Outside of Northwest Arkansas, the economy is more traditional — agriculture (rice and poultry, with Arkansas leading the US in both), manufacturing, and the logistics network around Little Rock. Property taxes are low. Full breakdown follows.