Janitorial Wages in Arkansas (2026)

Arkansas raised its minimum wage to $11.00/hr in 2026 through a voter-approved initiative — a meaningful floor increase over the federal $7.25 — but a statewide janitorial median of just $14.20/hr still places Arkansas among the bottom-quartile wage states nationally.

CurrentStatute: BLS OEWS May 2024 (SOC 37-2011) + Ark. Code Ann. §11-4-210 (state minimum wage; applies to employers with 4+ employees)Effective: $11.00/hr effective January 1, 2026 (state law); $7.25/hr federal floor applies to employers with <4 employeesLast reviewed: Q2 2026

Arkansas's janitorial workers earn a statewide mean and median hourly wage of $14.20 (BLS OEWS May 2024, SOC 37-2011) — one of the lowest in the nation. A voter-approved minimum wage increase brought the state minimum to $11.00/hr effective January 1, 2026, providing a floor that is $3.20/hr above the federal minimum but still $3.20/hr below the prevailing median for this occupation.

What employers should plan for

Floor: $11.00/hr effective January 1, 2026 (applies to employers with 4+ employees; smaller employers default to federal $7.25/hr). Future scheduled increases: under the ballot initiative, the rate increases annually — check Arkansas DOL for 2027 updates.
Local floors: No Arkansas city or county has enacted a local minimum wage ordinance superseding the state rate.
Loaded labor rate: Commercial cleaning bids in Arkansas run approximately $20–$26/hr total loaded cost (base wage + payroll taxes + WC ~$1.06/$100 — Arkansas has notably low WC rates — + benefits + overhead). The low WC rate meaningfully reduces total burden relative to coastal states.
Workers' comp class 9014 base rate approximately $1.06/$100 payroll — among the lowest nationally for this classification.

High-wage metros vs. low-wage metros

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA (NW Arkansas corridor) leads the state at a median $15.11/hr, driven by the economic activity around Walmart's headquarters, Tyson Foods, and a growing tech and logistics sector. Little Rock-NLR-Conway, the capital region, comes in at $14.06/hr median. At the low end, Hot Springs (median $13.26/hr) and Texarkana TX-AR ($13.56/hr median) reflect rural and border-market wage suppression.

Wage percentile distribution (BLS OEWS 2024)

10th percentile: $12.31/hr
25th percentile: $13.17/hr
Median (50th): $14.20/hr
75th percentile: $16.47/hr
90th percentile: $18.53/hr

Arkansas has a relatively compressed distribution with a $6.22/hr spread from 10th to 90th. The 10th percentile at $12.31/hr is above the 2026 minimum wage of $11.00/hr, suggesting the state minimum is not currently binding at scale for cleaning workers.

Union presence

Arkansas is a right-to-work state with private-sector union density approximately 2–3%, among the lowest nationally. SEIU 32BJ has no commercial cleaning presence in Arkansas. The state's cleaning labor market is entirely market-driven with no pattern bargaining or union wage floors influencing commercial contracts.

What this means for bid math

Arkansas presents the lowest total loaded labor cost among NCCI states in this batch. The combination of a $14.20/hr median wage and one of the nation's lowest WC rates for class 9014 (~$1.06/$100) means a total loaded labor cost of approximately $20–$23/hr (1.40–1.62× base) for commercial cleaning contracts. NW Arkansas (Fayetteville metro) is the exception, with tighter labor markets and wages trending toward $15–$16/hr requiring closer to a 1.65× loaded rate. Budget for annual minimum wage increases given the state's voter-approved indexed schedule.

Primary sources

Related research for Arkansas