Medical Equipment Preparers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,010
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$7,470
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,243
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
$43,480
Kept after tax
$36,010
Worth in national money
$39,243
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for medical equipment preparers is on the low side in Missouri. The middle earner gets $43,480. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 8.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 488 occupations Missouri publishes, medical equipment preparers lands at 370. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $43,480 you keep $36,010, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,243 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $44,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For medical equipment preparers, Missouri sits in the lower band at $43,480, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 8.85%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Missouri, this work ranks 370 of 488 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for medical equipment preparers on $43,480 is $36,010. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,243 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 $44,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Equipment Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,420 |
| This salary | $43,480 |
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 | $36,010 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,116 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,048 |
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 | $42,103 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,267 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,480 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,510 and the ninetieth is $58,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $36,010, from $43,480, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 370 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,243 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 370.
- The Missouri median of $43,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,510 to $58,420. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,010 from $43,480. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 370 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,243, worked from $43,480, 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 370 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,510 and the top tenth $58,420, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $39,243.
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, $36,010 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,510 to $58,420) 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 $39,243 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 $36,010 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.