Dental Assistants in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,171
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$6,989
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,854
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$39,160
Kept after tax
$32,171
Worth in national money
$36,854
State rank
47
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental assistants is on the low side in Mississippi. The middle earner gets $39,160. That is 47 of 50 states, and about 18.54% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 486 occupations Mississippi reports figures for, this is number 335.
- Mississippi is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,160 the take-home is $32,171; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,854 would nationally. The average comes to $42,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For dental assistants, Mississippi sits in the lower band at $39,160, ranking 47 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 18.54%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Mississippi's occupational distribution, dental assistants sits at 335 of 486 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for dental assistants in Mississippi, on $39,160, is $32,171 — equivalent to $36,854 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 $42,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,620 |
| This salary | $39,160 |
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 Mississippi | $32,171 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,645 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,231 |
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 | $37,325 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,698 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,160 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,650 and the ninetieth is $58,620 — 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 Mississippi's $32,171, worked from $39,160. 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 335 of 486.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,854 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 335.
- The Mississippi median of $39,160 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,650 to $58,620. 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 Mississippi take-home of $32,171, on $39,160 for work ranking 335 of 486 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 335 of 486 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,854, worked from $39,160, 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 Mississippi address, on work sitting at 335 of 486 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 $42,910 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,650 at the tenth percentile, $58,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $36,854.
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; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $32,171.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Mississippi is $42,910. 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 ($30,650 to $58,620) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi'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 $36,854 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 $32,171 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.