Materials Engineers in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,139
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$17,561
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,040
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
$78,700
Kept after tax
$61,139
Worth in national money
$70,040
State rank
43
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for materials engineers. The middle earner takes $78,700, ranking 43 of 45 states — about 30.27% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Mississippi. It ranks 83 out of 486 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $78,700 you keep $61,139, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $70,040 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $94,600, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi ranks 43 of 45 for materials engineers, with a median of $78,700 — about 30.27% 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.
- Within Mississippi, materials engineers ranks 83 of 486 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for materials engineers on $78,700 is $61,139. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $70,040 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 $94,600 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $150,890 |
| This salary | $78,700 |
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 | $61,139 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,195 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,978 |
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 | $74,356 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,495 |
| 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 $78,700. The published range is $62,000 up to $150,890, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $61,139 take-home in Mississippi comes from $78,700. 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 83 of 486.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,040, the adjusted value of that $78,700 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 83 of 486 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for materials engineers in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,000 to $150,890. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $61,139, from $78,700, 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 83 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $70,040 — the adjusted value of that $78,700 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 83 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $94,600 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,000, the highest tenth $150,890, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $70,040 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $61,139.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Mississippi is $94,600. 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 ($62,000) and the ninetieth ($150,890) 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?
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 $70,040 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 $61,139 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.