Childcare Workers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,410
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$4,380
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,781
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
$30,790
Kept after tax
$26,410
Worth in national money
$28,781
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri sits in the middle of the pack for childcare workers. The median is $30,790, ranking 28 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Missouri, this one sits low: 476 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $30,790 the take-home is $26,410; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $28,781 would nationally. The average comes to $33,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Missouri occupies the middle band for childcare workers: a median of $30,790, ranking 28 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Childcare workers occupies position 476 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 childcare workers in Missouri, on $30,790, is $26,410 — equivalent to $28,781 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 $33,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,600 |
| This salary | $30,790 |
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 | $26,410 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,920 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,079 |
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 | $30,156 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,304 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $30,790 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,600 and the ninetieth is $41,600 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $26,410, from $30,790, 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 476 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,781, the adjusted value of that $30,790 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 476 of 488 in the state.
- The Missouri median of $30,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,600 to $41,600. 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 $26,410 from $30,790. 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 476 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $28,781 — the adjusted value of that $30,790 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 476 of 488 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 $33,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,600 and the top tenth $41,600, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $28,781.
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 $26,410.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $33,240. 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 ($28,600 to $41,600) 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 $28,781 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 $26,410 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.