Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,315
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$5,315
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,947
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
$34,630
Kept after tax
$29,315
Worth in national money
$31,947
State rank
48
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Missouri pays this job a middle wage of $34,630, 48 of 48 states and about 18.25% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Missouri this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 448. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,630 you keep $29,315, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,947 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $36,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri's $34,630 median for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters places it 48 of 48 states, about 18.25% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Missouri reports, helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 448 of 488, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters on $34,630 is $29,315. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,947 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 $36,470 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,070 |
| This salary | $34,630 |
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 | $29,315 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,005 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,069 |
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 | $33,771 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,293 |
| 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 helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Missouri earn under $34,630 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $49,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $29,315, from $34,630, 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 448 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $31,947, the adjusted value of that $34,630 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 448 of 488 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $49,070; 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 $29,315 from $34,630. 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 448 of 488 locally.
- This $31,947 adjusted figure, worked from $34,630, 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 448 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 448 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 $36,470, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $49,070 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 Missouri sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $31,947 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Missouri's own levy, $29,315 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $36,470. 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 ($31,200 to $49,070) 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 $31,947 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 $29,315 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.
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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.