Arkansas / State Crime Laboratory / Forensic Scientist
Job-title file
Forensic Scientist
Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.
75 employees hold this title in State Crime Laboratory. Median total compensation for the role is $71,027, above the department median of $71,027.
- Employees
- 75
- Total payroll
- $5.3M
- Role median
- $71,027
- Agency median
- $71,027
- Comparison
- Above
What the records show
Role pay distribution
Pay distribution for this role
How total compensation varies among the 75 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.
Compared with the local labor market
Forensic Scientist pay vs. Arkansas
Across all employers in Arkansas, the median wage for Forensic Science Technicians — about 100 people — is $44,670. State Crime Laboratory pays a median base salary of $71,027 for this role, 59% above that figure — above the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where State Crime Laboratory sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Forensic Science Technicians across every employer in Arkansas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows State Crime Laboratory’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Forensic Science Technicians — about 19,120 people — is $72,060. State Crime Laboratory’s median base salary is 1% below that national figure, about the 48th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
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 State Crime Laboratory is $71,027, 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
Forensic Scientist is held in 3 Arkansas departments. In State Crime Laboratory, the median of $71,027 ranks #1 of 3.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Forensic Scientist role in other Arkansasdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Forensic Scientist beyond Arkansas
This role is reported in 13 jurisdictions. In Arkansas, the median of $71,027 ranks #9 of 13. See Forensic Scientist across all of Arkansas →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Forensic Scientistroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
Employees with this title
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No employees match these filters.