Compared with the local labor market
Park Specialist pay vs. Arkansas
Across all employers in Arkansas, the median wage for Conservation Scientists — about 230 people — is $73,320. Department of Parks and Tourism pays a median base salary of $29,120 for this role, 60% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Parks and Tourism sits in the local pay range
$51,630
$61,110
$73,320
$96,100
$109,300
Department of Parks and Tourism median · $29,120
The bar is the range of annual wages for Conservation Scientists across every employer in Arkansas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Parks and Tourism’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Conservation Scientists — about 25,950 people — is $73,010. Department of Parks and Tourism’s median base salary is 60% below that national figure, below the 10th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$47,550
$57,700
$73,010
$91,560
$110,410
Department of Parks and Tourism median · $29,120
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.
Computed over the 420 of 422 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Parks and Tourism is $29,120, 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.