What skilled trades pay in Arkansas, where the jobs are and how work is changing, from 37 public government sources. The best-paying trade here is electrical lineworker at a $81,450 median. For every trade and metro, start from the Arkansas pay page.
How Arkansas compares
0 of the 40 trades we track in Arkansas pay more than in a typical U.S. metro. The biggest premiums are for rigger (-1%), auto body repairer (-5%) and fence installer (-5%), and the biggest gaps for elevator installer (-43%) and ironworker (-29%). Prices in Arkansas's metros run about 14% below the U.S. average, and a typical 1-bedroom rents for $863 a month (U.S. metros: $1,097).
Best-paying trades in Arkansas
Statewide median pay, BLS May 2025. The lowest-paying trade we track here is landscaper at $35,770.
Every trade in Arkansas
Statewide medians and jobs, BLS OEWS May 2025. “vs. U.S.” compares with the typical U.S. metro median for the trade.
Where the jobs are
- Maintenance Technician: 12,410 jobs
- Construction Laborer: 10,650 jobs
- Electrician: 7,500 jobs
- Auto Mechanic: 7,310 jobs
- Landscaper: 6,610 jobs
Arkansas metros, best pay first
Ranked by how each metro's trade pay compares with all U.S. metros, averaged across trades.
Construction hiring
- Little Rock: +1.6% (19,114 workers)
- Fayetteville: -0.3% (17,203 workers)
Change in private construction jobs from a year earlier, 2026 Q1, metros with at least 5,000 construction workers (BLS QCEW).
Unions
2.8% of Arkansas workers belong to a union (3.5% are covered by a union contract), compared with about 10% nationally (all jobs, 2025).
Apprenticeships
Registered apprentices in Arkansas who finished or left a program in FY2020–2024 completed most often in electrical lineworker (72%), industrial machinery mechanic (71%) and electrician (34%).
Wages and safety
Unpaid wages recovered
Since 2018, the U.S. Labor Department has concluded 297 wage cases against construction employers in Arkansas, recovering $1,590,207 in back wages for 1,370 workers.offer check and keep your own record of hours.
DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement data, cases concluded 2018–2026. Counts only; employers aren't named here.
Safety inspections
In 2025, federal OSHA opened 30 inspections of construction worksites in the state. About 53% were set off by a complaint, a referral or an accident (7 after an accident or fatality); the rest were planned spot checks.
OSHA inspection data via the U.S. Department of Labor, construction (NAICS 23), inspections opened in 2025. Counts only.
Storm and disaster rebuild work
Since 2016, the Arkansas metros with the most federal major disasters are Little Rock (8), Fort Smith (6) and Jonesboro (5) (FEMA).
Veterans
Veterans: train on the job with the GI Bill
In Arkansas, 250 employers and programs are approved for GI Bill on-the-job training and apprenticeships, across all fields. Veterans in an approved trade apprenticeship can get a monthly housing allowance on top of apprentice pay. Search approved employers with the VA's GI Bill Comparison Tool.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, GI Bill Comparison Tool data, October 2026.
Common questions
What is the highest-paying skilled trade in Arkansas?
Electrical Lineworker pays the most of the trades we track, with a $81,450 statewide median (BLS, May 2025), followed by elevator installer and construction supervisor.
Which trade has the most jobs in Arkansas?
maintenance technicians, with about 12,410 jobs statewide, followed by construction laborers and electricians.
Which Arkansas city pays the trades best?
Fayetteville, compared with other U.S. metros across the trades we track, followed by Little Rock.
Is construction hiring growing in Arkansas?
In 2026 Q1, private construction jobs were up 1.6% from a year earlier in Little Rock, the fastest-changing large market in the state, and down 0.3% in Fayetteville.
Part of the State of Trade Pay 2026 report. Cite as “PayByTrade, State of Trade Pay in Arkansas 2026, payby.trade/report/ar/.”