Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,631
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$9,279
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,368
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
$50,910
Kept after tax
$41,631
Worth in national money
$45,368
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Missouri. The middle earner gets $50,910. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 20.42% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 279.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,910 you keep $41,631 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,368 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $56,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- For elementary school teachers, except special education, Missouri sits in the lower band at $50,910, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 20.42%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, elementary school teachers, except special education sits at 279 of 488 — 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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $41,631 after the full tax stack, from $50,910. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,368 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $56,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,820 |
| This salary | $50,910 |
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 | $41,631 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,086 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,029 |
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 | $49,099 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,245 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,910 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,980 and the ninetieth is $78,820 — 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 $41,631, worked from $50,910. 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 279 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,368 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 279.
- The Missouri median of $50,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,980 to $78,820. 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 $41,631, on $50,910 for work ranking 279 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 279 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,368, worked from $50,910, 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 279 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 $56,730, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $39,980 at the bottom tenth to $78,820 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $45,368 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, $41,631 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 $56,730. 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 ($39,980) and the ninetieth ($78,820) 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 $45,368 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 $41,631 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.