Public Safety Telecommunicators in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,665
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$8,325
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,136
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
$46,990
Kept after tax
$38,665
Worth in national money
$42,136
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Missouri. The middle earner gets $46,990. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 11.41% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 324.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,990 you keep $38,665 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,136 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For public safety telecommunicators, Missouri sits in the lower band at $46,990, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.41%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, public safety telecommunicators sits at 324 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 $38,665 after the full tax stack, from $46,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,136 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,100 |
| This salary | $46,990 |
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 | $38,665 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,936 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,039 |
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 | $45,408 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,257 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,990 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,810 and the ninetieth is $62,100 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $38,665 take-home in Missouri comes from $46,990. 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 324 of 488.
- Two cautions on $42,136, the adjusted value of that $46,990 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 324 of 488 locally.
- The Missouri median of $46,990 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,810 to $62,100. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $38,665, from $46,990, 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 324 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- This $42,136 adjusted figure, worked from $46,990, 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 324 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 324 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,810 and the top tenth $62,100, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $42,136.
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 $38,665.
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 ($35,810 to $62,100) 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 $42,136 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 $38,665 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.