Occupational Therapists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,638
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$23,652
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,249
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
$97,290
Kept after tax
$73,638
Worth in national money
$80,249
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Missouri is 32 of 51 states for occupational therapists, with a middle wage of $97,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Missouri. It ranks 65 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $97,290 you keep $73,638 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $80,249 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $95,200.
- Missouri ranks 32 of 51 for occupational therapists at $97,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Missouri, occupational therapists ranks 65 of 488 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $73,638 after the full tax stack, from $97,290. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,249 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $95,200 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 | $71,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $120,130 |
| This salary | $97,290 |
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 | $73,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,274 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$729 |
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 | $92,123 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,007 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Missouri earn less than $97,290. The published range is $71,880 up to $120,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $73,638, worked from $97,290. 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 65 of 488.
- Two cautions on $80,249, the adjusted value of that $97,290 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 65 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational therapists in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $71,880 to $120,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Missouri take-home of $73,638, on $97,290 for work ranking 65 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 65 of 488 in the state.
- This $80,249 adjusted figure, worked from $97,290, 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 65 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 65 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $71,880 at the tenth percentile, $120,130 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 $80,249.
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 Missouri adds its own income tax on top — which is why $73,638 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($71,880 to $120,130) 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 $80,249 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 $73,638 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.