Physician Assistants in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,214
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$36,916
27.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$107,031
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
$135,130
Kept after tax
$98,214
Worth in national money
$107,031
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Missouri is 22 of 51 states for physician assistants, with a middle wage of $135,130. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, physician assistants comes in at 11 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $135,130 you keep $98,214, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $107,031 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $137,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri ranks 22 of 51 for physician assistants at $135,130. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Physician assistants ranks 11 of 488 occupations by median in Missouri, 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.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for physician assistants on $135,130 is $98,214. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $107,031 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 $137,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physician Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $82,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $135,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $169,650 |
| This salary | $135,130 |
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 | $98,214 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $103,627 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$391 |
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 | $127,209 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$556 |
| 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 physician assistants in Missouri earn under $135,130 and half over. The published range runs $82,690 at the tenth percentile to $169,650 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $98,214, from $135,130, 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 11 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $107,031, the adjusted value of that $135,130 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 11 of 488 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for physician assistants in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $82,690 to $169,650; 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.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $98,214 from $135,130. 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 11 of 488 locally.
- This $107,031 adjusted figure, worked from $135,130, 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 11 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 11 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $82,690 and the top tenth $169,650, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $107,031 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Missouri's own levy, $98,214 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($82,690 to $169,650) 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 $107,031 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 $98,214 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.