Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,328
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$14,072
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,296
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
$69,400
Kept after tax
$55,328
Worth in national money
$60,296
State rank
9
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $69,400, which ranks 9 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 30.11% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 147.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $69,400 you keep $55,328, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $60,296 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $70,190, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri ranks 9 of 50 states publishing a median for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, at $69,400 — about 30.11% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators sits at 147 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 paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators on $69,400 is $55,328. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $60,296 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 $70,190 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,560 |
| This salary | $69,400 |
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 | $55,328 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,653 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$967 |
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 | $66,146 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,335 |
| 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 $69,400. The published range is $42,410 up to $98,560, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $55,328, from $69,400, 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 147 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $60,296, the adjusted value of that $69,400 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 147 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,410 to $98,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $55,328 from $69,400. 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 147 of 488 locally.
- This $60,296 adjusted figure, worked from $69,400, 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 147 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 147 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $42,410, the highest tenth $98,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Missouri sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $60,296 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $55,328.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($42,410) and the ninetieth ($98,560) 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 $60,296 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 $55,328 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.