Virtual receptionist in the East Arkansas nonmetro area: cost vs in-house

Pay in the East Arkansas nonmetro area against Arkansas and the US

The middle half of virtual receptionists in the East Arkansas nonmetro area earns $29,490–$35,550. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $37,620, only 1.4 times the bottom tenth, against 1.7 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $6,060 wide, against $7,030 across Arkansas and $11,170 nationally: employers in the East Arkansas nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a virtual receptionist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $4,340 over the median, the 25th only $1,720 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $5,600 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 $38,010 falls above the 90th percentile in the East Arkansas nonmetro area, and the Arkansas statewide median of $34,840 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what nine in ten local virtual receptionists earn.

What a hire really costs in the East Arkansas nonmetro area

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 $9,061 to the $31,210 median and brings it to $40,271 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 virtual receptionists 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 the East Arkansas nonmetro area

Virtual receptionists have the lowest median of the 12 roles we track in the East Arkansas nonmetro area; project coordinators have the highest, at $66,540.

Measured against the US median, virtual receptionists rank #2 of the 12 roles we track in the East Arkansas nonmetro area (-17.9%), between customer support specialists (-16.4%) and bookkeepers (-21.1%). The typical role here is at -27.7%, so, measured against the US, virtual receptionists cost more in the East Arkansas nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Virtual receptionists hold 10.1% of the jobs in these 12 roles in the East Arkansas nonmetro area, 10.7% across Arkansas and 6.2% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Arkansas

Across the 9 areas of Arkansas with data for this job, the median runs from $31,210 in the East Arkansas nonmetro area to $36,080 in Fayetteville-Springdale, a gap of $4,870 a year. All 8 areas in Arkansas with more virtual receptionists than the East Arkansas nonmetro area also pay more, among them Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR ($35,790) and Fayetteville-Springdale, AR ($36,080).

the East Arkansas nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Arkansas nonmetro area is #369 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 Owensboro pay just above the East Arkansas nonmetro area and Columbus and Morristown just below. All four are within $90 a year of the median in the East Arkansas nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many virtual receptionists, all three pay more.

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Sources

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