Emergency Medical Technicians in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,011
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$7,149
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,155
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
$42,160
Kept after tax
$35,011
Worth in national money
$38,155
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $42,160, ranking 27 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Missouri, this one sits low: 382 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $42,160 you keep $35,011 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,155 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,330, since top earners drag the number up.
- Missouri occupies the middle band for emergency medical technicians: a median of $42,160, ranking 27 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Emergency medical technicians occupies position 382 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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $35,011 after the full tax stack, from $42,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,155 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,330 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Emergency Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,090 |
| This salary | $42,160 |
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 Missouri | $35,011 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,056 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,051 |
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 | $40,860 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,271 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,160 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,390 and the ninetieth is $58,090 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,011 take-home in Missouri comes from $42,160. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 382 of 488.
- Two cautions on $38,155, the adjusted value of that $42,160 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 382 of 488 locally.
- The Missouri median of $42,160 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,390 to $58,090. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $35,011, from $42,160, assumes a single Missouri filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 382 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- This $38,155 adjusted figure, worked from $42,160, 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 382 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 382 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,390 at the tenth percentile, $58,090 at the ninetieth.
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 $38,155 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Missouri then takes its own share, leaving $35,011.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,390 to $58,090) 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 $38,155 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 $35,011 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.