Occupational Therapy Assistants in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,099
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$12,971
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,866
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
$66,070
Kept after tax
$53,099
Worth in national money
$57,866
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Missouri is 31 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $66,070. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Missouri, this sits in the middle: 158 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $66,070 you keep $53,099, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $57,866 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $66,030, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Missouri ranks 31 of 50 for occupational therapy assistants at $66,070. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Occupational therapy assistants ranks 158 of 488 occupations in Missouri by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for occupational therapy assistants on $66,070 is $53,099. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $57,866 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 $66,030 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Occupational Therapy Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,930 |
| This salary | $66,070 |
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 | $53,099 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,267 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$992 |
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 | $63,372 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,310 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $66,070 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,990 and the ninetieth is $80,930 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $53,099, from $66,070, 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 158 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $57,866, the adjusted value of that $66,070 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 158 of 488 locally.
- The Missouri median of $66,070 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,990 to $80,930. 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 $53,099 from $66,070. 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 158 of 488 locally.
- This $57,866 adjusted figure, worked from $66,070, 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 158 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 158 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $50,990 at the bottom tenth to $80,930 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $57,866 in national terms.
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 $53,099.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,990 to $80,930) 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 $57,866 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 $53,099 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.