According to 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, Arkansas medical and health service management positions will pay an average salary of $89,700. In the top ten percent, administrators can make $133,930 or more.
There are plenty of these jobs to go around throughout Arkansas, a state that U.S. News & World Report has called a role model for the American healthcare industry. Expanded healthcare coverage has brought a new population of patients into the market, which fuels demand for services among the state’s 106 hospitals and diverse clinics and independent doctor’s offices.
In 2021, that demand amounted to over $500 million towards the salaries of medical and health service management professionals.
Where the Job Growth is for Healthcare Administrators in Arkansas
According to the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, the top three fastest growing professions in the state are in health care. That makes sense, with the healthcare and social assistance sector expected to be the fastest growing sector of the state economy, with projections showing it will likely add some 4 million jobs during the ten-year period leading up to 2026.
Those jobs need supervision and management, and they all feed into the demand for healthcare administrators and managers across Arkansas. The profession is set to expand in the state at 19.4 percent in the decade between 2018 and 2028, ahead of the national rate. That will lead to about 560 positions opening up each year, through a combination of attrition and new job creations.
Salaries for Healthcare Administrators Throughout Arkansas
BLS shows pretty healthy salaries for medical administrators all across Arkansas. Urban areas tend to pay better than rural ones, both due to the size of the facilities and agencies found there and the breadth of responsibilities that come with working in a fast-paced city medical center employing generalists and specialists in an array of areas.
But it doesn’t always follow that the largest urban areas are the best paying; Pine Bluff, with a median annual salary of over $84,000 a year, comes in higher than the Fayetteville area, for example. However the urban Little Rock area still takes the cake on the high end with its 90th percentile salary, clocking in at $150,150 annually.
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
- 25th percentile: $68,020
- Median: $84,800
- 90th percentile: $150,150
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
- 25th percentile: $66,410
- Median: $80,730
- 90th percentile: $138,190
Fort Smith
- 25th percentile: $56,470
- Median: $72,610
- 90th percentile: $111,010
Jonesboro
- 25th percentile: $69,390
- Median: $82,850
- 90th percentile: $137,130
A full breakdown of salary numbers in all areas of Arkansas the US Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked in 2021 can be seen here:
2020 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Medical and Health Services Managers.
Job growth projections sourced from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services and published in the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Long Term Occupational Projections (2018-2028) database – https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm.
Salary figures and job market projections represent state data, not school-specific information.
Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed August 2021.