Floral Designers in Missouri

A camera, paintbrushes and fabric swatches on a creative studio table.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$28,997

after federal, FICA and Missouri tax

Tax takes

$5,213

15.2% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$31,600

Missouri costs less than average

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

$34,210

Kept after tax

$28,997

Worth in national money

$31,600

State rank

41

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Missouri is among the lower-paying states for floral designers. The middle earner takes $34,210, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 8.43% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
  • Measured against other jobs in Missouri, this one sits low: 453 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,210 you keep $28,997, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,600 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $35,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Missouri ranks 41 of 51 for floral designers, with a median of $34,210 — about 8.43% 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.
  • Floral designers occupies position 453 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.
  • After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for floral designers on $34,210 is $28,997. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,600 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 $35,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Floral Designers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$28,670
Half earn under$34,210
Top tenth earn over$46,110
This salary$34,210

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

Compare with
+$671take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Missouri$28,997
Take-home in Texas$29,668
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,070

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

Moving to
$0$35,504
$35,504in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$33,375
Raise you would need+$1,294
Prices in Texas97 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 floral designers in Missouri earn under $34,210 and half over. The published range runs $28,670 at the tenth percentile to $46,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • In Missouri the take-home figure of $28,997, from $34,210, 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 453 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 $31,600 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 453.
  • Figures are distribution medians for floral designers in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,670 to $46,110; 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 $28,997 from $34,210. 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 453 of 488 locally.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,600, worked from $34,210, 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 453 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 $35,890 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,670 and the top tenth $46,110, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.

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 $31,600 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Missouri adds its own income tax on top — which is why $28,997 of this wage survives to your account.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 Missouri is $35,890. 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 ($28,670 to $46,110) 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 $31,600 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 $28,997 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.