Mechanical Engineers in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,945
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$24,055
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,710
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
$98,000
Kept after tax
$73,945
Worth in national money
$84,710
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $98,000, ranking 40 of 51 states — about 5.87% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Mississippi this is well-paid work. Of 486 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 36 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $98,000 you keep $73,945, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $84,710 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $100,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi ranks 40 of 51 for mechanical engineers, with a median of $98,000 — about 5.87% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Mississippi publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 36 of 486 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for mechanical engineers on $98,000 is $73,945. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $84,710 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 $100,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,990 |
| This salary | $98,000 |
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 | $73,945 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,773 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,676 |
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 | $92,559 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,459 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 mechanical engineers in Mississippi earn under $98,000 and half over. The published range runs $62,210 at the tenth percentile to $136,990 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 Mississippi's $73,945, worked from $98,000. 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 36 of 486.
- Two cautions on $84,710, the adjusted value of that $98,000 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 36 of 486 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for mechanical engineers in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,210 to $136,990; 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 Mississippi take-home of $73,945, on $98,000 for work ranking 36 of 486 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 36 of 486 in the state.
- This $84,710 adjusted figure, worked from $98,000, 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 36 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 36 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $62,210 and the top tenth $136,990 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $84,710 in national terms.
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 Mississippi adds its own income tax on top — which is why $73,945 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,210) and the ninetieth ($136,990) 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 $84,710 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 $73,945 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.
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.