Ranked 14 of 15 states · median $828/mo · CMS PY2026
Licensed Independent Agent · NPN #22052447 · 21 States
A 40-year-old landscape contractor 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.
For work with real injury exposure the premium is the wrong headline number. What decides a bad year is the annual out-of-pocket maximum — the ceiling you stop paying at. A fall, a fracture, an imaging series and a course of physical therapy will reach that ceiling on any metal tier, so the states below are ordered by worst-case exposure.
Occupational context: Heat illness; equipment injury; pesticide exposure.
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, so a landscape contractor in one Arkansas county can pay materially more than one an hour away. Six counties from across the state, cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old:
| County | Cheapest Silver @40 | Issuer | Deductible | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Ouachita | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Prairie | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Sebastian | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| White | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Boone | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
The spread across just these six is $0/month — $0 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $753 to $879. Coverage by County publishes all 75 Arkansas counties individually.
| Arkansas — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $0 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $0 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $647 — Octave |
| Gold deductible | $5,900 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $753 — Octave |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $1,052 |
For a landscape contractor, the gap between $0 and $0 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
Read the comparison as context, not as a shopping list. Your county of residence determines what you can buy, and for a landscape contractor that is fixed unless you relocate. Where it is actionable is a move already in progress — that is a qualifying life event, and you have 60 days on either side of it.
Deduction categories that generally fit this trade: Equipment, truck, trailer, materials, licensing. Note the ordering problem with health premiums: the §162(l) deduction lowers your AGI, and your AGI is what sets your premium tax credit, so the two calculate against each other. That is a CPA conversation and worth having before you enroll, not after.
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.
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 Landscape Contractors in Arkansas and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.