Crane and Tower Operators in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,335
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,115
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,584
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
$58,450
Kept after tax
$47,335
Worth in national money
$51,584
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is among the lower-paying states for crane and tower operators. The middle earner takes $58,450, ranking 45 of 50 states — about 14.15% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Crane and tower operators ranks 237 among 488 occupations Missouri publishes pay for.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,450 you keep $47,335, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,584 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $63,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri ranks 45 of 50 for crane and tower operators, with a median of $58,450 — about 14.15% 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 237 of 488 in Missouri places crane and tower operators 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.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for crane and tower operators on $58,450 is $47,335. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,584 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $63,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,580 |
| This salary | $58,450 |
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 | $47,335 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,145 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,011 |
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 | $56,198 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,223 |
| 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 crane and tower operators in Missouri earn under $58,450 and half over. The published range runs $40,680 at the tenth percentile to $95,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $47,335, from $58,450, 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 237 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 $51,584 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 237.
- Figures are distribution medians for crane and tower operators in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,680 to $95,580; 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 $47,335 from $58,450. 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 237 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,584, worked from $58,450, 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 237 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $63,850, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $40,680 and the top tenth $95,580 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $51,584 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, $47,335 remains.
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 $63,850. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($40,680) and the ninetieth ($95,580) 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 $51,584 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 $47,335 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.