Clergy in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,554
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,186
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,823
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
$58,740
Kept after tax
$47,554
Worth in national money
$51,823
State rank
35
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is among the lower-paying states for clergy. The middle earner takes $58,740, ranking 35 of 50 states — about 3.4% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Clergy ranks 231 among 488 occupations Missouri publishes pay for.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $58,740 the take-home is $47,554; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,823 would nationally. The average comes to $60,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Missouri ranks 35 of 50 for clergy, with a median of $58,740 — about 3.4% 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 231 of 488 in Missouri places clergy 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 clergy in Missouri, on $58,740, is $47,554 — equivalent to $51,823 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.
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Pay band: Clergy
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,940 |
| This salary | $58,740 |
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 | $47,554 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,378 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,010 |
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 | $56,471 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,222 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,740 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,260 and the ninetieth is $77,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $47,554, from $58,740, 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 231 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 $51,823 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 231.
- The Missouri median of $58,740 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,260 to $77,940. 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 $47,554 from $58,740. 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 231 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,823, worked from $58,740, 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 231 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 $60,750 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 $44,260 and the top tenth $77,940, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Missouri is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $51,823 in national terms.
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 $47,554.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $60,750. 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 ($44,260 to $77,940) 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 $51,823 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 $47,554 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.