Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,258
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$6,262
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,154
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
$38,520
Kept after tax
$32,258
Worth in national money
$35,154
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri sits in the middle of the pack for landscaping and groundskeeping workers. The median is $38,520, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Missouri, this one sits low: 410 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,520 you keep $32,258 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,154 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,690, since top earners drag the number up.
- Missouri occupies the middle band for landscaping and groundskeeping workers: a median of $38,520, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Landscaping and groundskeeping workers occupies position 410 of 488 in Missouri'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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $32,258 after the full tax stack, from $38,520. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,154 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,690 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,430 |
| This salary | $38,520 |
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 | $32,258 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,131 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,060 |
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 | $37,433 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,282 |
| 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 landscaping and groundskeeping workers in Missouri earn under $38,520 and half over. The published range runs $30,610 at the tenth percentile to $50,430 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,258 take-home in Missouri comes from $38,520. 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 410 of 488.
- Two cautions on $35,154, the adjusted value of that $38,520 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 410 of 488 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for landscaping and groundskeeping workers in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,610 to $50,430; 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.
- Retained pay of $32,258, from $38,520, assumes a single Missouri 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 410 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 51 for it.
- This $35,154 adjusted figure, worked from $38,520, 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 410 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 410 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $40,690, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,610 and the top tenth $50,430, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,154 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 Missouri adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,258 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $40,690. 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 ($30,610 to $50,430) 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 $35,154 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 $32,258 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.