Amusement and Recreation Attendants in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$19,848
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$3,312
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$22,737
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$23,160
Kept after tax
$19,848
Worth in national money
$22,737
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays this job a middle wage of $23,160, 49 of 51 states and about 27.96% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Mississippi this is lower-paid work. Of 486 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 477. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $23,160 you keep $19,848 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $22,737 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $24,050, since top earners drag the number up.
- Mississippi's $23,160 median for amusement and recreation attendants places it 49 of 51 states, about 27.96% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Mississippi reports, amusement and recreation attendants ranks 477 of 486, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $19,848 after the full tax stack, from $23,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $22,737 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $24,050 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Amusement and Recreation Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $17,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $23,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $28,640 |
| This salary | $23,160 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Mississippi | $19,848 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $20,682 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,454 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $22,147 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,716 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $23,160. The published range is $17,590 up to $28,640, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $19,848, from $23,160, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 477 of 486 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $22,737 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 477.
- Reported values are medians; for amusement and recreation attendants in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $17,590 to $28,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $19,848 from $23,160. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 477 of 486 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $22,737, worked from $23,160, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Mississippi address, on work sitting at 477 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $24,050, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $17,590 at the bottom tenth to $28,640 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $22,737.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Mississippi's own levy, $19,848 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Mississippi is $24,050. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($17,590 to $28,640) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $22,737 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $19,848 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.