Occupational Therapists in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,908
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$23,022
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,376
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
$94,930
Kept after tax
$71,908
Worth in national money
$82,376
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for occupational therapists is on the low side in Mississippi. The middle earner gets $94,930. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 5.38% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 486 occupations Mississippi reports, occupational therapists comes in at 44 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $94,930 you keep $71,908 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $82,376 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $93,430.
- For occupational therapists, Mississippi sits in the lower band at $94,930, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 5.38%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Occupational therapists ranks 44 of 486 occupations by median in Mississippi, 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.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $71,908 after the full tax stack, from $94,930. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $82,376 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $93,430 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $94,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $113,950 |
| This salary | $94,930 |
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 | $71,908 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,613 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,565 |
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 | $89,663 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,306 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $94,930 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $73,200 and the ninetieth is $113,950 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $71,908 take-home in Mississippi comes from $94,930. 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 44 of 486.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,376, the adjusted value of that $94,930 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 44 of 486 in the state.
- The Mississippi median of $94,930 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $73,200 to $113,950. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $71,908, from $94,930, 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 44 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $82,376 — the adjusted value of that $94,930 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 44 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $73,200 at the tenth percentile, $113,950 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 $82,376.
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 $71,908 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($73,200 to $113,950) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
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 $82,376 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 $71,908 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.