Highway Maintenance Workers in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,086
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$6,034
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,320
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
$35,120
Kept after tax
$29,086
Worth in national money
$33,320
State rank
49
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for highway maintenance workers. The middle earner takes $35,120, ranking 49 of 49 states — about 30.12% 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: 408 of 486 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,120 you keep $29,086, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,320 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $35,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi ranks 49 of 49 for highway maintenance workers, with a median of $35,120 — about 30.12% 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.
- Highway maintenance workers occupies position 408 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.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for highway maintenance workers on $35,120 is $29,086. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,320 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 $35,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,170 |
| This salary | $35,120 |
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 | $29,086 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,399 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,038 |
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 | $33,486 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,465 |
| 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 $35,120. The published range is $27,700 up to $45,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,086 take-home in Mississippi comes from $35,120. 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 408 of 486.
- Two cautions on $33,320, the adjusted value of that $35,120 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 408 of 486 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for highway maintenance workers in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,700 to $45,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,086, from $35,120, 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 408 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 49 for it.
- This $33,320 adjusted figure, worked from $35,120, 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 408 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 408 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,700 at the bottom tenth to $45,170 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 $33,320 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 $29,086.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,700 to $45,170) 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 $33,320 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 $29,086 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.