Cooks, Short Order in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,235
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$6,255
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,129
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
$38,490
Kept after tax
$32,235
Worth in national money
$35,129
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Missouri pays cooks, short order a middle wage of $38,490, ranking 15 of 49 states and sitting about 7.27% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Missouri, this one sits low: 411 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,490 the take-home is $32,235; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,129 would nationally. The average lands at $37,390, below the middle of the range.
- Missouri's median for cooks, short order is $38,490, about 7.27% above the national figure and 15 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Cooks, short order occupies position 411 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 cooks, short order in Missouri, on $38,490, is $32,235 — equivalent to $35,129 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 $37,390 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,440 |
| This salary | $38,490 |
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 | $32,235 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,107 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,060 |
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 | $37,405 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,282 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of cooks, short order in Missouri earn under $38,490 and half over. The published range runs $29,810 at the tenth percentile to $46,440 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $32,235, from $38,490, 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 411 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $35,129, the adjusted value of that $38,490 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Missouri. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 411 of 488 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, short order in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,810 to $46,440; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,235 from $38,490. 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 411 of 488 locally.
- This $35,129 adjusted figure, worked from $38,490, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 411 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 411 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,810 and the top tenth $46,440, 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 $35,129 in national terms.
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, $32,235 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,810 to $46,440) 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 $35,129 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 $32,235 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.