Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,030
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$24,380
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,766
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
$99,410
Kept after tax
$75,030
Worth in national money
$81,766
State rank
20
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Missouri is 20 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $99,410. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Missouri. It ranks 55 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $99,410 the take-home is $75,030; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $81,766 would nationally. The average lands at $99,190, below the middle of the range.
- Missouri ranks 20 of 48 for clinical and counseling psychologists at $99,410. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Missouri, clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 55 of 488 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for clinical and counseling psychologists in Missouri, on $99,410, is $75,030 — equivalent to $81,766 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 $99,190 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,810 |
| This salary | $99,410 |
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 | $75,030 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,765 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$711 |
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 | $94,101 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$982 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $99,410 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,770 and the ninetieth is $141,810 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $75,030, worked from $99,410. 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 55 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $81,766 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 55.
- The Missouri median of $99,410 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,770 to $141,810. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Missouri take-home of $75,030, on $99,410 for work ranking 55 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 55 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $81,766, worked from $99,410, 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 55 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,770, the highest tenth $141,810, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Missouri sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $81,766 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Missouri adds its own income tax on top — which is why $75,030 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,770) and the ninetieth ($141,810) 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?
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 $81,766 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 $75,030 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.