Postal Service Clerks in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,485
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,485
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,837
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
$59,970
Kept after tax
$48,485
Worth in national money
$52,837
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Missouri pays postal service clerks a middle wage of $59,970, 42 of 51 states and about 3.48% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 213.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,970 you keep $48,485 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,837 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $58,840.
- Missouri's $59,970 median for postal service clerks places it 42 of 51 states, about 3.48% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, postal service clerks sits at 213 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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $48,485 after the full tax stack, from $59,970. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,837 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,840 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $59,970 |
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 | $48,485 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,366 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,007 |
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 | $57,629 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,218 |
| 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 $59,970. The published range is $42,600 up to $75,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $48,485 take-home in Missouri comes from $59,970. 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 213 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,837, the adjusted value of that $59,970 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 213 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service clerks in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,600 to $75,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $48,485, from $59,970, 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 213 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $52,837 — the adjusted value of that $59,970 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 213 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,600 at the bottom tenth to $75,030 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 $52,837 in national terms.
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 $48,485 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,030) 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 $52,837 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 $48,485 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.