Mechanical Engineers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,977
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$24,353
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,709
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
$99,330
Kept after tax
$74,977
Worth in national money
$81,709
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Missouri pays mechanical engineers a middle wage of $99,330, 36 of 51 states and about 4.59% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 56 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $99,330 you keep $74,977, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $81,709 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $101,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri's $99,330 median for mechanical engineers places it 36 of 51 states, about 4.59% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 56 of 488 occupations by median in Missouri, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for mechanical engineers on $99,330 is $74,977. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $81,709 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 $101,340 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 | $64,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $142,100 |
| This salary | $99,330 |
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 | $74,977 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,709 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$712 |
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 | $94,026 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$983 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $99,330 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $64,750 and the ninetieth is $142,100 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $74,977, worked from $99,330. 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 56 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $81,709 uses one figure for the whole of Missouri. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 56.
- The Missouri median of $99,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $64,750 to $142,100. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Missouri take-home of $74,977, on $99,330 for work ranking 56 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 56 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $81,709, worked from $99,330, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Missouri address, on work sitting at 56 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $64,750 at the bottom tenth to $142,100 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $81,709 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Missouri's own levy, $74,977 remains.
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 ($64,750) and the ninetieth ($142,100) 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?
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 $81,709 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 $74,977 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.