Food Processing Workers, All Other in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,400
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$6,750
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,971
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
$38,150
Kept after tax
$31,400
Worth in national money
$35,971
State rank
30
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Mississippi is 30 of 46 states for food processing workers, all other, with a middle wage of $38,150. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Food processing workers, all other ranks 353 among 486 occupations Mississippi publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,150 you keep $31,400 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,971 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $37,740.
- Mississippi ranks 30 of 46 for food processing workers, all other at $38,150. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 353 of 486 in Mississippi places food processing workers, all other in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $31,400 after the full tax stack, from $38,150. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,971 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,740 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Food Processing Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,790 |
| This salary | $38,150 |
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 | $31,400 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,834 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,183 |
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 | $36,365 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,640 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,150 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,970 and the ninetieth is $42,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,400 take-home in Mississippi comes from $38,150. 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 353 of 486.
- Two cautions on $35,971, the adjusted value of that $38,150 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Mississippi. 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 353 of 486 locally.
- The Mississippi median of $38,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,970 to $42,790. 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 $31,400, from $38,150, assumes a single Mississippi 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 353 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 46 for it.
- This $35,971 adjusted figure, worked from $38,150, 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 353 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 353 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,970 at the bottom tenth to $42,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $35,971 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 Mississippi adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,400 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,970 to $42,790) 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 $35,971 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 $31,400 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.