How much does a mechatronics technician make in Arkansas?
Because there's no BLS state table for Arkansas, the percentile chart next to this is built from Salary.com's model. The middle of the market, the 25th to 75th percentile, runs from $46,623 to $60,176. That's a tight band. It tells you most mechatronics technician pay in Arkansas clusters in the high $40,000s to low $60,000s, with less room to run than states that have big automotive or aerospace plants pulling the top end up.
The top decile in the model tops out at $66,673. In practice the people earning that are the ones who can walk into a control panel, read the PLC logic, and get a line running again without calling in an outside integrator. Multi-craft maintenance techs at steel mills and large food plants are where the real money lives in Arkansas, and those roles reward troubleshooting speed far more than a title.
Bar = middle 50% of wages (25th to 75th percentile). Line = 10th to 90th percentile span. Tick = median.
Arkansas mechatronics salary: BLS vs Salary.com vs Indeed
The three sources disagree because they measure different things. BLS surveys actual employers, but it prints nothing for Arkansas here, so there's no state anchor to lean on. Salary.com models pay from HR compensation data and puts the average at $53,039. Indeed averages what job postings and users report, landing at $27.61 an hour. That Indeed figure rests on just 11 salaries, which is a small enough sample that one or two high or low outliers can move it noticeably. Don't treat it as gospel.
For negotiating, use the Salary.com average of $53,039 as your baseline number and the Indeed annualized figure of about $57,429 as your reach. If you hold real PLC and robotics troubleshooting experience, anchor toward the top of the modelled range, near $60,000 to $66,000, and bring the national $73,900 median to show the market pays more where the work exists.
as of July 01, 2026
11 salaries reported · hourly ×2,080
Dashed line = US median $73,900.
How Arkansas compares with nearby states
Arkansas sits in the Census South, and its neighbors that do have BLS data pay meaningfully more. Oklahoma posts a $65,100 median, Tennessee $64,720, and Texas $54,460 on far larger employment (1,800 techs). Arkansas' modelled $53,039 average trails all three, which reflects both a smaller industrial base and a lower cost of living. If you're mobile, the pay gap across the state line is real.
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Dashed line = US median $73,900.
Who hires mechatronics technicians in Arkansas
Northeast Arkansas is steel country. Nucor Steel Arkansas and Nucor-Yamato Steel run mills around Blytheville and Hickman, and they hire maintenance mechanics and techs who can troubleshoot hydraulic, water, and mechanical systems on rotating shifts. These melt-shop and rolling-mill roles are where mechatronics skills, PLCs, drives, sensors, and multi-craft troubleshooting, translate directly into pay.
Beyond steel, Arkansas' large food and packaging operations lean on the same skill set. Sonoco has posted industrial maintenance reliability tech roles in the state paying $27.26 to $39.76 an hour depending on education and experience, which lines up with the upper half of the Salary.com model.
How to earn more as a mechatronics technician in Arkansas
Stack the certifications the mills actually test for
Arkansas' best-paying maintenance jobs sit inside steel mills and food plants that run heavily automated lines. A documented PLC and industrial controls credential moves you out of the general-labor pool fast. See the mechatronics certifications guide for the stack employers here screen for, and lead with troubleshooting proof, not a resume line.
Cross the state line if you're mobile
The pay math is blunt. Oklahoma's BLS median is $65,100 and Tennessee's is $64,720, both well above Arkansas' modelled $53,039 average. Texas runs $54,460 but on a much deeper job market (1,800 techs). If you can commute to a border metro or relocate, you're often looking at a five-figure raise for the same skills.
Step toward the controls-engineer track
The ceiling for a technician title in Arkansas is roughly $66,000 on the Salary.com model. The way past it is moving into controls and automation engineering, where the national numbers run much higher. See the controls engineer path and the full salary guide to map the jump.
Arkansas mechatronics technician salary widget (2026)
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Arkansas mechatronics technician salary FAQ
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Sources & methodology
Figures on this page come from four independent datasets, retrieved 2026-07-14. Where they disagree, the disagreement is shown rather than averaged away; the source-comparison section explains why each number differs.
- BLS OEWS, SOC 17-3024, May 2025 national and state estimates (state file oesm25st.zip). Employer-reported, the authoritative baseline.
- Salary.com, Mechatronics Technician in Arkansas, as of July 01, 2026. HR-reported and modelled averages.
- Indeed, mechatronics technician salaries in Arkansas, based on 11 reported salaries. Posting-derived.
- Nucor jobs in Arkansas (ZipRecruiter)
- Electro-Mechanical jobs in Arkansas (Indeed)