Recruiter salary in Fort Smith, AR-OK

Pay in Fort Smith against Arkansas and the US

The middle half of recruiters in Fort Smith earns $45,760–$67,550. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $90,790, only 2.4 times the bottom tenth, against 2.7 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($59,220) 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 only $21,790 wide, against $30,870 across Arkansas and $40,770 nationally: employers in Fort Smith pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a recruiter here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $13,330 over the median, the 25th only $8,460 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $17,200 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 $75,940 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in Fort Smith, and the Arkansas statewide median of $55,010 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local recruiters earn.

What a hire really costs in Fort Smith

At the $54,220 median, a local hire costs about $69,961 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $15,741 here. 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 recruiters 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 Fort Smith

Of the 16 roles we track in Fort Smith, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between office managers ($57,130) and executive assistants ($50,220). Project Coordinator is the highest at $74,990.

Measured against the US median, recruiters rank #14 of the 16 roles we track in Fort Smith (-28.6%), between project coordinators (-26.7%) and sales development representatives (-31.1%). The typical role here is at -22.1%, so, measured against the US, recruiters cost less in Fort Smith than the area's general pay level would suggest. Recruiters hold 5.2% of the jobs in these 16 roles in Fort Smith, 5.8% across Arkansas and 5.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Arkansas

Across the 9 areas of Arkansas with data for this job, the median runs from $51,260 in Hot Springs to $58,830 in Fayetteville-Springdale, a gap of $7,570 a year. All 2 areas in Arkansas with more recruiters than Fort Smith also pay more, among them Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR ($57,640) and Fayetteville-Springdale, AR ($58,830).

Fort Smith against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Fort Smith is #299 of 521 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Arkansas, Monroe and Hattiesburg pay just above Fort Smith and McAllen-Edinburg and Laredo just below. Of the three markets with about as many recruiters, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

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