Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,807
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$22,693
24.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,253
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
$94,500
Kept after tax
$71,807
Worth in national money
$78,253
State rank
20
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $94,500, ranking 20 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Missouri. It ranks 74 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 $94,500 you keep $71,807 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $78,253 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $112,430, since top earners drag the number up.
- Missouri occupies the middle band for political science teachers, postsecondary: a median of $94,500, ranking 20 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Missouri, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 74 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 $71,807 after the full tax stack, from $94,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $78,253 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $112,430 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $94,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $214,900 |
| This salary | $94,500 |
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 | $71,807 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,311 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$753 |
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 | $89,519 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,040 |
| 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 $94,500. The published range is $52,670 up to $214,900, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $71,807, from $94,500, 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 74 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $78,253 uses one figure for the whole of Missouri. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 74.
- Reported values are medians; for political science teachers, postsecondary in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $52,670 to $214,900. 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 $71,807 from $94,500. 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 74 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $78,253, worked from $94,500, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Missouri address, on work sitting at 74 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $112,430, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $52,670, the highest tenth $214,900, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $78,253.
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 $71,807 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Missouri is $112,430. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($52,670) and the ninetieth ($214,900) 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 $78,253 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 $71,807 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.