Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,963
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$6,167
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,832
Missouri costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Missouri — 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
$38,130
Kept after tax
$31,963
Worth in national money
$34,832
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $38,130, which ranks 12 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 6.9% above the national middle.
- Within Missouri this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 414. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,130 you keep $31,963, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,832 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,860, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri ranks 12 of 51 states publishing a median for automotive and watercraft service attendants, at $38,130 — about 6.9% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Missouri reports, automotive and watercraft service attendants ranks 414 of 488, 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.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for automotive and watercraft service attendants on $38,130 is $31,963. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,832 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $40,860 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,410 |
| This salary | $38,130 |
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 Missouri | $31,963 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,817 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,061 |
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 | $37,066 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,283 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of automotive and watercraft service attendants in Missouri earn under $38,130 and half over. The published range runs $33,800 at the tenth percentile to $48,410 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $31,963, worked from $38,130. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 414 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,832, the adjusted value of that $38,130 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 414 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for automotive and watercraft service attendants in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,800 to $48,410; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Missouri take-home of $31,963, on $38,130 for work ranking 414 of 488 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 414 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $34,832 — the adjusted value of that $38,130 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 414 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $40,860, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,800 at the tenth percentile, $48,410 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Missouri sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,832 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Missouri adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,963 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Missouri is $40,860. 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 ($33,800 to $48,410) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Missouri rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Missouri'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 $34,832 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 $31,963 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Missouri 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.