How Arkansas taxes a paycheck
Arkansas has been cutting its income tax faster than almost any state. The top rate was 6.9% in 2018; it fell to 5.9% in 2021, 4.9% in 2022, 4.7% in 2023, 4.4% in 2024 and 3.9% for 2025 onward, with the legislature signalling further cuts. For 2026 the schedule is two rates, 2% on the first $4,600 of taxable income and 3.9% above, with the same thresholds for single and married filers. The standard deduction is $2,470 single and $4,940 married, indexed for inflation, and a $29 credit per person and per dependent stands in for a personal exemption.
Arkansas also keeps a separate, gentler rate table for net incomes of about $92,300 or less, with rates stepping from 2% to 3.9% across $5,500 to $25,700. The calculator applies the main schedule to every income, which overstates tax by a small amount, usually under $100, for filers who qualify for the low-income table.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Arkansas?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Arkansas pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $2,130 in Arkansas income tax, leaving roughly $48,260 a year or $1,856 every two weeks. The state share is about 3.5% of gross pay.
Arkansas has no local income taxes. Cities and counties are funded by sales taxes, which are among the highest combined rates in the country (over 9% in Little Rock), but none of that touches a paycheck.
Arkansas compared with its neighbours
Arkansas touches six states and the contrast is sharp. Texas and Tennessee tax no wages; Missouri tops out at 4.7%, Oklahoma at 4.5%, Louisiana is a flat 3% with a $12,875 standard deduction, and Mississippi is a flat 4% above $10,000. On a $60,000 single salary Arkansas's roughly $2,130 sits above Louisiana's $1,410, Mississippi's $1,670 and Missouri's $1,650, and just below Oklahoma's $2,160.
The thing that keeps Arkansas's bill above its rate would suggest is the small standard deduction. Louisiana shelters $12,875 before its 3% applies; Arkansas shelters $2,470 before 3.9%. Rate cuts have moved the top rate below the neighbours'; the deduction has not moved with it.
Withholding forms and filing status in Arkansas
Arkansas employers withhold from Form AR4EC, on which employees claim allowances that reduce the wages subject to the state's withholding tables. Married couples in Arkansas commonly file separately on the same return, because the brackets are not doubled for joint filers (the 3.9% rate begins at $4,600 for both) and the low-income table applies to each spouse's income separately. The $29 personal credit is claimed per person and per dependent.
Arkansas has no reciprocal agreements. A Texas resident working in Arkansas pays Arkansas tax on those wages; an Arkansas resident working in Texas pays Arkansas tax on them, with no credit available since Texas charges none. Arkansas's border-city exemption, which once let residents of Texarkana pay no state tax, continues: income earned in Texarkana, Arkansas by residents of either Texarkana is exempt.