Graphic Designers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,049
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$10,701
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,183
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
$56,750
Kept after tax
$46,049
Worth in national money
$50,183
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for graphic designers is on the low side in Missouri. The middle earner gets $56,750. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 9.86% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 252 among 488 occupations Missouri publishes pay for.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,750 the take-home is $46,049; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,183 would nationally. The average comes to $59,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For graphic designers, Missouri sits in the lower band at $56,750, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.86%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 252 of 488 in Missouri places graphic designers 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.
- Post-tax income for graphic designers in Missouri, on $56,750, is $46,049 — equivalent to $50,183 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $59,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,270 |
| This salary | $56,750 |
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 | $46,049 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,779 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,015 |
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 | $54,597 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,228 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 graphic designers in Missouri earn under $56,750 and half over. The published range runs $36,950 at the tenth percentile to $83,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $46,049, worked from $56,750. 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 252 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,183, the adjusted value of that $56,750 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 252 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for graphic designers in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,950 to $83,270; 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.
- The Missouri take-home of $46,049, on $56,750 for work ranking 252 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 252 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $50,183 — the adjusted value of that $56,750 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 252 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 $59,660, 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 $36,950 at the bottom tenth to $83,270 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 $50,183 in national terms.
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 $46,049 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $59,660. 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 ($36,950) and the ninetieth ($83,270) 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 $50,183 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 $46,049 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.