Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Missouri

Machined metal parts and a CNC machine in a clean manufacturing workshop.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$38,204

after federal, FICA and Missouri tax

Tax takes

$8,176

17.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$41,634

Missouri costs less than average

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

$46,380

Kept after tax

$38,204

Worth in national money

$41,634

State rank

25

of 48 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Missouri sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,380, ranking 25 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 336.
  • Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,380 you keep $38,204, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,634 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Missouri occupies the middle band for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic: a median of $46,380, ranking 25 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
  • In Missouri's occupational distribution, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic sits at 336 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
  • After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic on $46,380 is $38,204. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,634 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 $47,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$34,700
Half earn under$46,380
Top tenth earn over$59,880
This salary$46,380

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

Compare with
+$1,243take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Missouri$38,204
Take-home in Texas$39,446
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,040

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

Moving to
$0$47,638
$47,638in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$44,834
Raise you would need+$1,258
Prices in Texas97 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 molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Missouri earn under $46,380 and half over. The published range runs $34,700 at the tenth percentile to $59,880 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 Missouri's $38,204, worked from $46,380. 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 336 of 488.
  • Two cautions on $41,634, the adjusted value of that $46,380 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 336 of 488 locally.
  • Figures are distribution medians for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,700 to $59,880; 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 Missouri take-home of $38,204, on $46,380 for work ranking 336 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 336 of 488 in the state.
  • This $41,634 adjusted figure, worked from $46,380, 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 336 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 336 of 488 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,700 at the tenth percentile, $59,880 at the ninetieth.

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 $41,634.

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; Missouri then takes its own share, leaving $38,204.

Why is this job missing from some states?

A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,700 to $59,880) 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 $41,634 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 $38,204 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.

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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.