Optometrists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$97,373
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$36,437
27.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$106,115
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
$133,810
Kept after tax
$97,373
Worth in national money
$106,115
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Missouri pays optometrists around $133,810 at the midpoint, 31 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Missouri this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 12 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $133,810 the take-home is $97,373; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $106,115 would nationally. The average lands at $133,680, below the middle of the range.
- For optometrists the Missouri median is $133,810, ranking 31 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Missouri publishes a median for, optometrists sits 12 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for optometrists in Missouri, on $133,810, is $97,373 — equivalent to $106,115 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $133,680 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $133,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $175,270 |
| This salary | $133,810 |
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 | $97,373 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,725 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$404 |
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 | $125,980 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$574 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 optometrists in Missouri earn under $133,810 and half over. The published range runs $64,610 at the tenth percentile to $175,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $97,373 take-home in Missouri comes from $133,810. 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 12 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $106,115, the adjusted value of that $133,810 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 12 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for optometrists in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $64,610 to $175,270; 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.
- Retained pay of $97,373, from $133,810, assumes a single Missouri 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 12 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $106,115 — the adjusted value of that $133,810 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 12 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $64,610 and the top tenth $175,270 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $106,115 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 $97,373.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($64,610) and the ninetieth ($175,270) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $106,115 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 $97,373 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.