Education Administrators, Postsecondary in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,411
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$26,149
25.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,450
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
$104,560
Kept after tax
$78,411
Worth in national money
$85,450
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Missouri pays this job around $104,560 at the midpoint, 24 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Missouri this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 34 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $104,560 you keep $78,411, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $85,450 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $126,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For education administrators, postsecondary the Missouri median is $104,560, ranking 24 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Missouri publishes a median for, education administrators, postsecondary sits 34 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for education administrators, postsecondary on $104,560 is $78,411. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $85,450 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 $126,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Education Administrators, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $213,740 |
| This salary | $104,560 |
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 | $78,411 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,388 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$667 |
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 | $98,907 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$922 |
| 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 education administrators, postsecondary in Missouri earn under $104,560 and half over. The published range runs $63,110 at the tenth percentile to $213,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $78,411, from $104,560, 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 34 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 $85,450 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 34.
- Figures are distribution medians for education administrators, postsecondary in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,110 to $213,740; 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 $78,411 from $104,560. 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 34 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $85,450, worked from $104,560, 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 34 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 $126,700 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $63,110 and the top tenth $213,740 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $85,450 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $78,411 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $126,700. 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 ($63,110) and the ninetieth ($213,740) 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 $85,450 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 $78,411 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.