Payroll Specialist salary in Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR

Pay in Little Rock-North Little Rock against Arkansas and the US

Payroll specialists at the 90th percentile earn $78,120, 2.1 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.1. The middle half of payroll specialists in Little Rock-North Little Rock earns $43,410–$59,220. The mean ($53,830) is 9% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $15,810 wide, between the figure for Arkansas ($15,100) and the US figure ($21,610).

What to budget for a payroll specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $9,620 over the median, the 25th only $6,190 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $12,413 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $58,260 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Little Rock-North Little Rock, and the Arkansas statewide median of $46,110 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Little Rock-North Little Rock

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $14,400 to the $49,600 median and brings it to $64,000 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for payroll specialists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Little Rock-North Little Rock

Of the 17 roles we track in Little Rock-North Little Rock, this one ranks #8 by median pay, between executive assistants ($49,730) and HR assistants ($47,920). Project Coordinator is the highest at $73,480.

Measured against the US median, payroll specialists rank #7 of the 17 roles we track in Little Rock-North Little Rock (-14.9%), between customer support specialists (-14.8%) and office managers (-15.5%). The typical role here is at -18.1%, so, measured against the US, payroll specialists cost more in Little Rock-North Little Rock than the area's general pay level would suggest. Payroll specialists hold 1.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Little Rock-North Little Rock, 1.1% across Arkansas and 1.0% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Arkansas

Across the 8 areas of Arkansas with data for this job, the median runs from $39,440 in the East Arkansas nonmetro area to $50,370 in Jonesboro, a gap of $10,930 a year. No other area in Arkansas has as many payroll specialists, and 6 of the other 7 pay less.

Little Rock-North Little Rock against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Little Rock-North Little Rock is #71 of 482 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, yet its pay sits in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Arkansas, Valdosta and Sioux Falls pay just above Little Rock-North Little Rock and Niles and Rocky Mount just below. All four are within $210 a year of the median in Little Rock-North Little Rock. Of the three markets with about as many payroll specialists, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.