Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,023
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,337
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,334
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
$59,360
Kept after tax
$48,023
Worth in national money
$52,334
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Missouri pays this job a middle wage of $59,360, 36 of 51 states and about 3.9% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 223.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,360 the take-home is $48,023; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,334 would nationally. The average comes to $60,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Missouri's $59,360 median for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists places it 36 of 51 states, about 3.9% 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.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists sits at 223 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Missouri, on $59,360, is $48,023 — equivalent to $52,334 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 $60,750 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 | $41,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,480 |
| This salary | $59,360 |
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 Missouri | $48,023 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,876 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,009 |
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 | $57,054 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,220 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,360 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,170 and the ninetieth is $82,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $48,023 take-home in Missouri comes from $59,360. 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 223 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,334, the adjusted value of that $59,360 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 223 of 488 in the state.
- The Missouri median of $59,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,170 to $82,480. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $48,023, from $59,360, assumes a single Missouri 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 223 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $52,334 — the adjusted value of that $59,360 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 223 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $41,170 at the bottom tenth to $82,480 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 $52,334.
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 $48,023.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,170 to $82,480) 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 $52,334 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 $48,023 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.