- The middle half earn between $17.23 and $21.99 an hour.
- Arkansas is 51st of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Arkansas pays less than all 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 440 crime scene cleaners on payrolls in Arkansas.
- At the state median wage, a biohazard cleaning business needs to bill about $101.51 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Crime Scene Cleaner pay in Arkansas, bottom to top
BLS has no figure for crime scene cleaners. These are its numbers for hazardous materials removal workers, the closest group, which includes decontamination workers along with asbestos and lead abatement crews. Treat them as a rough guide, not a measure of crime scene work itself.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $16.73 | $34,800 | $18.49 |
| 25th percentile | $17.23 | $35,830 | $21.50 |
| Median | $17.61 | $36,630 | $23.78 |
| 75th percentile | $21.99 | $45,730 | $29.58 |
| 90th percentile | $52.22 | $108,620 | $39.62 |
| Average (mean) | $22.64 | $47,100 | $27.13 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Arkansas. The bottom tenth earn $16.73 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $52.22 or more, a gap of 3.1 times against 2.1 nationally. Where a crime scene cleaner sits on that range matters as much as the state.
The bottom of the scale is lower than nationally ($16.73 against $18.49) while the top is higher ($52.22 against $39.62), so the climb from new hire to top earner is longer here.
The average wage, $22.64, sits 29% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical crime scene cleaner makes.
How Arkansas compares with other states
Over a full year, the Arkansas median of $36,630 is $12,820 less than the national $49,450.
Every other state with published figures pays at least as much. The next lowest is Louisiana at $18.27; the highest is New York at $35.14.
Every one of the neighboring states pays crime scene cleaners more than Arkansas. The closest is Louisiana at $18.27, and the biggest gap is with Tennessee.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
How many crime scene cleaners work in Arkansas
About 440 crime scene cleaners work on payrolls in Arkansas, 0.9% of the 51,710 nationwide, the 32nd largest count among the states.
That is 0.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Arkansas, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a biohazard cleaning business in Arkansas should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a biohazard cleaning business in Arkansas paying the state median of $17.61, on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $17.61 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $39,431 |
| Break-even rate | ($39,431 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $86.29 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $86.29 ÷ 0.85 | $101.51 |
That is $101.51 per billable hour, 5.8 times the wage, and $10.84 less than the $112.35 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $21.99 in Arkansas, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $109.21.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $17.23, the rate only drops to $100.85.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-4041, hazardous materials removal workers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: crime scene cleaner salary by state.