Ranked 14 of 15 states · median $828/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old carpenter in Arkansas pays a median $828/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 14th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $753 from Octave in Arkansas. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, Arkansas ranks 2 of 15 for this occupation.
Trade work concentrates cost into rare, expensive events rather than spreading it across the year. That inverts the usual shopping logic: a lower premium with a $9,200 ceiling is a worse deal than a higher premium with a $6,000 one, because the ceiling is what you actually hit. These rankings follow the ceiling.
Occupational context: Saw and nail-gun injuries; hearing loss; back strain from lifting.
None of that changes your price. ACA plans in Arkansas are community rated — premium varies by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size only. Your occupation cannot be used to rate you, decline you, or exclude a condition. What it changes is which plan design is the right bet.
Premium is set by rating area rather than by county, so counties in the same area price identically. Six counties from across Arkansas, cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old:
| County | Cheapest Silver @40 | Issuer | Deductible | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hempstead | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Johnson | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Lonoke | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Nevada | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Polk | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Scott | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
All six fall in the same rating area, so they price identically at $753. Statewide the range still runs $753 to $879. Coverage by County publishes all 75 Arkansas counties individually.
| Arkansas — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $2,050 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $647 — Octave |
| Gold deductible | $5,900 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $753 — Octave |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $1,052 |
For a carpenter, the gap between $2,050 and $10,600 in annual out-of-pocket maximum is worth more than any premium difference on this page. One serious injury reaches that ceiling regardless of which plan you picked.
Source: CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file. 3,900 plan records across 75 Arkansas counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Utah ($805), Texas ($807), North Carolina ($828). More expensive: Nebraska ($875).
Side-by-side: Arkansas vs Texas · Arkansas vs North Carolina · Arkansas vs Nebraska
A caveat on the table above: rating is by residence, not by job site. A carpenter living in Arkansas and working across a state line still buys Arkansas plans. A genuine permanent move does trigger a special enrollment period, but the plan year restarts with a fresh deductible.
Self-employed Carpenters in Arkansas typically deduct: Tools, truck, lumber, jobsite travel, liability insurance. Health premiums sit separately, above the line under IRC §162(l), and only when neither you nor a spouse could have joined an employer plan — eligibility disqualifies you even if you declined the coverage.
If your household income is above the subsidy range, ACA is not automatically the answer. There are other categories of coverage that may fit, and they work very differently. That is a conversation, not a web page.
The cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old in Arkansas is $753 per month from Octave, with a state median of $828. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
It cannot happen on an exchange plan. Rating in Arkansas uses four inputs only: age, ZIP code, tobacco use and how many people are on the policy. Trade, injury history and pre-existing conditions are all excluded from pricing by law.
Yes. Plan types filed for 2026: POS, PPO.
Arkansas ranks 14 of 15 states covered here, at a median $828 per month. Indiana is cheapest at $558 and Nebraska is most expensive at $875.
Below the cliff. At this income a single-person household remains eligible for a premium tax credit in 2026.
This occupation sits above the cliff in 1 of the 21 states reported and below it in the other 20, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Carpenters (SOC 47-2031) in Arkansas. BLS surveys wage and salary workers and excludes the self-employed, so it is a benchmark for the occupation in this state — not the income of a self-employed carpenter. Premium tax credit eligibility is set by household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not by occupation, so treat this as a reference point rather than a determination of what you qualify for.
Why the cliff is back. The enhanced premium tax credits expired on 31 December 2025. For plan year 2026 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $62,600 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.
This page compares states. For Arkansas specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Carpenters in Arkansas and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Right now 4 carriers file plans across the 75 counties of Arkansas. Participation is reset annually, which is why Carpenters should check the roster in November rather than assume this year’s options carry over.
On price the only honest number today is national: the Peterson-KFF read of 2027 filings puts the median proposed rise near 15%, spanning −1% to 54%. Final Arkansas rates are not approved, so any precise 2027 figure quoted for this state is guesswork.
Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, Arkansas included. Conflicting end dates get quoted because a 2025 rule shortened the window and a court vacated it in June 2026, appeal pending — enrol by the 15th and the argument is irrelevant to you.
In your favour: PPOs are sold in all 75 Arkansas counties. That is the type most likely to pay toward out-of-network care, and worth defending at renewal if your work as a carpenter takes you around.
Nothing about 2027 is urgent yet, which is exactly why it is worth ten minutes now. Come November you will be choosing between Arkansas’s carriers under a deadline; today you can do it without one.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
Two Carpenters on opposite sides of Arkansas can be quoted very different premiums for the same plan. Your ZIP is what decides it.