Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,924
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$18,046
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,573
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
$80,970
Kept after tax
$62,924
Worth in national money
$68,573
State rank
33
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Missouri. The middle earner gets $80,970. That is 33 of 49 states, and about 4.31% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Missouri this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 96 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,970 the take-home is $62,924; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,573 would nationally. The average comes to $104,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For biological science teachers, postsecondary, Missouri sits in the lower band at $80,970, ranking 33 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 4.31%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Missouri publishes a median for, biological science teachers, postsecondary sits 96 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for biological science teachers, postsecondary in Missouri, on $80,970, is $62,924 — equivalent to $68,573 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $104,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,850 |
| This salary | $80,970 |
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 | $62,924 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,792 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$868 |
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 | $76,893 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,199 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,970 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $52,700 and the ninetieth is $174,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $62,924, from $80,970, 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 96 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $68,573 uses one figure for the whole of Missouri. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 96.
- The Missouri median of $80,970 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $52,700 to $174,850. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $62,924 from $80,970. 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 96 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $68,573, worked from $80,970, 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 Missouri address, on work sitting at 96 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 $104,480, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $52,700 and the top tenth $174,850 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $68,573 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Missouri then takes its own share, leaving $62,924.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $104,480. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($52,700) and the ninetieth ($174,850) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $68,573 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 $62,924 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.