File Clerks in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,139
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$5,121
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,944
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
$31,260
Kept after tax
$26,139
Worth in national money
$29,944
State rank
49
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for file clerks. The middle earner takes $31,260, ranking 49 of 49 states — about 28.3% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Mississippi, this one sits low: 429 of 486 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $31,260 you keep $26,139 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $29,944 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,300, since top earners drag the number up.
- Mississippi ranks 49 of 49 for file clerks, with a median of $31,260 — about 28.3% 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.
- File clerks occupies position 429 of 486 in Mississippi'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 Mississippi is $26,139 after the full tax stack, from $31,260. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,944 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,300 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,200 |
| This salary | $31,260 |
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 | $26,139 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,297 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,853 |
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 | $29,818 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,241 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $31,260. The published range is $25,210 up to $44,200, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $26,139, from $31,260, 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 429 of 486 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,944 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 429.
- Reported values are medians; for file clerks in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,210 to $44,200. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,139 from $31,260. 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 429 of 486 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,944, worked from $31,260, 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 429 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 $33,300 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $25,210 at the bottom tenth to $44,200 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Mississippi is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $29,944 in national terms.
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 $26,139.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 Mississippi is $33,300. 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 ($25,210 to $44,200) 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 $29,944 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 $26,139 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.