Compared with the local labor market
Librarian pay vs. Arkansas
Across all employers in Arkansas, the median wage for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists — about 1,490 people — is $56,800. Arkansas State Library pays a median base salary of $52,137 for this role, 8% below that figure — about the 42nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Arkansas State Library sits in the local pay range
$31,640
$42,920
$56,800
$63,160
$73,210
Arkansas State Library median · $52,137
The bar is the range of annual wages for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists across every employer in Arkansas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Arkansas State Library’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists — about 133,790 people — is $68,270. Arkansas State Library’s median base salary is 24% below that national figure, about the 20th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$43,660
$56,310
$68,270
$84,480
$103,990
Arkansas State Library median · $52,137
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Arkansas range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Arkansas State Library is $52,137, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
This role across Arkansas
Librarian is held in 3 Arkansas departments. In Arkansas State Library, the median of $52,137 ranks #2 of 3.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Librarian role in other Arkansasdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.