Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,304
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$7,886
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,653
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
$45,190
Kept after tax
$37,304
Worth in national money
$40,653
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Missouri. The middle earner gets $45,190. That is 41 of 51 states, and about 2.65% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 355.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,190 you keep $37,304, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,653 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,970, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For industrial truck and tractor operators, Missouri sits in the lower band at $45,190, ranking 41 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 2.65%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, industrial truck and tractor operators sits at 355 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for industrial truck and tractor operators on $45,190 is $37,304. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,653 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 $47,970 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,620 |
| This salary | $45,190 |
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 | $37,304 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,490 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,043 |
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 | $43,713 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,262 |
| 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 industrial truck and tractor operators in Missouri earn under $45,190 and half over. The published range runs $36,240 at the tenth percentile to $64,620 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 $37,304, worked from $45,190. 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 355 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,653, the adjusted value of that $45,190 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 355 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for industrial truck and tractor operators in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,240 to $64,620; 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 $37,304, on $45,190 for work ranking 355 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 355 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $40,653 — the adjusted value of that $45,190 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 355 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 $47,970, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,240 at the tenth percentile, $64,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $40,653 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; Missouri then takes its own share, leaving $37,304.
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 $47,970. 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 ($36,240 to $64,620) 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 $40,653 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 $37,304 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.