Butchers and Meat Cutters in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,758
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$6,102
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,610
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
$37,860
Kept after tax
$31,758
Worth in national money
$34,610
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is among the lower-paying states for butchers and meat cutters. The middle earner takes $37,860, ranking 37 of 51 states — about 5.68% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Missouri, this one sits low: 418 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,860 the take-home is $31,758; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,610 would nationally. The average comes to $40,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Missouri ranks 37 of 51 for butchers and meat cutters, with a median of $37,860 — about 5.68% 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.
- Butchers and meat cutters occupies position 418 of 488 in Missouri's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for butchers and meat cutters in Missouri, on $37,860, is $31,758 — equivalent to $34,610 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 $40,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Butchers and Meat Cutters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,320 |
| This salary | $37,860 |
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 | $31,758 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,601 |
| 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 | $36,812 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,284 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Missouri earn less than $37,860. The published range is $29,280 up to $55,320, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $31,758, worked from $37,860. 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 418 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,610, the adjusted value of that $37,860 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 418 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for butchers and meat cutters in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,280 to $55,320. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Missouri take-home of $31,758, on $37,860 for work ranking 418 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 418 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $34,610 — the adjusted value of that $37,860 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 418 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $40,810, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $29,280 at the tenth percentile, $55,320 at the ninetieth.
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 $34,610.
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 Missouri's own levy, $31,758 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 Missouri is $40,810. 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 ($29,280 to $55,320) 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 $34,610 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 $31,758 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.