Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in Missouri

Books, colored pencils and a globe in a bright classroom.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$61,788

after federal, FICA and Missouri tax

Tax takes

$17,452

22.0% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$67,335

Missouri costs less than average

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

$79,240

Kept after tax

$61,788

Worth in national money

$67,335

State rank

24

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Middling, nationally. Missouri pays this job around $79,240 at the midpoint, 24 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
  • Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, this job comes in at 107 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $79,240 you keep $61,788, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,335 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $88,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • For psychology teachers, postsecondary the Missouri median is $79,240, ranking 24 of 50 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.
  • Psychology teachers, postsecondary ranks 107 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 psychology teachers, postsecondary on $79,240 is $61,788. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,335 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 $88,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$50,590
Half earn under$79,240
Top tenth earn over$130,710
This salary$79,240

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

Compare with
+$2,787take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Missouri$61,788
Take-home in Texas$64,575
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$883

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

Moving to
$0$80,460
$80,460in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$75,278
Raise you would need+$1,220
Prices in Texas97 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 $79,240. The published range is $50,590 up to $130,710, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $61,788, worked from $79,240. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 107 of 488.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $67,335, the adjusted value of that $79,240 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 107 of 488 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for psychology teachers, postsecondary in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,590 to $130,710. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • The Missouri take-home of $61,788, on $79,240 for work ranking 107 of 488 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 107 of 488 in the state.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $67,335 — the adjusted value of that $79,240 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 107 of 488 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $88,690 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

The label is broader than the work. From $50,590 at the bottom tenth to $130,710 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.

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 $67,335 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, $61,788 remains.

Why is this job missing from some states?

The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.

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 $88,690. 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 ($50,590) and the ninetieth ($130,710) 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 $67,335 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 $61,788 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.