Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,776
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$10,584
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,149
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
$54,360
Kept after tax
$43,776
Worth in national money
$50,149
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $54,360, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 12% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 197 among 486 occupations Mississippi publishes pay for.
- Mississippi is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $54,360 the take-home is $43,776; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,149 would nationally. The average comes to $56,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Mississippi ranks 48 of 51 for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists, with a median of $54,360 — about 12% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 197 of 486 in Mississippi places bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Mississippi, on $54,360, is $43,776 — equivalent to $50,149 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 $56,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,020 |
| This salary | $54,360 |
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 | $43,776 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,858 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,957 |
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 | $51,768 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,577 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Mississippi earn under $54,360 and half over. The published range runs $37,390 at the tenth percentile to $82,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $43,776 take-home in Mississippi comes from $54,360. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 197 of 486.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,149, the adjusted value of that $54,360 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 197 of 486 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,390 to $82,020; 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.
- Retained pay of $43,776, from $54,360, assumes a single Mississippi filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 197 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $50,149 — the adjusted value of that $54,360 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 197 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $56,670 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,390 and the top tenth $82,020 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $50,149.
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, $43,776 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 $56,670. 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 ($37,390) and the ninetieth ($82,020) 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?
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 $50,149 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 $43,776 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.