Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,950
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$9,060
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,626
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
$50,010
Kept after tax
$40,950
Worth in national money
$44,626
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Missouri pays this job around $50,010 at the midpoint, 21 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Missouri, this sits in the middle: 294 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,010 you keep $40,950, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,626 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For refuse and recyclable material collectors the Missouri median is $50,010, ranking 21 of 51 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.
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors ranks 294 of 488 occupations in Missouri by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for refuse and recyclable material collectors on $50,010 is $40,950. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,626 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 $50,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,270 |
| This salary | $50,010 |
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 | $40,950 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,363 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,032 |
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 | $48,251 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,248 |
| 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 refuse and recyclable material collectors in Missouri earn under $50,010 and half over. The published range runs $31,760 at the tenth percentile to $71,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $40,950, from $50,010, 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 294 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,626, the adjusted value of that $50,010 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 294 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,760 to $71,270; 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 $40,950 from $50,010. 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 294 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $44,626 — the adjusted value of that $50,010 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 294 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,760, the highest tenth $71,270, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $44,626 in national terms.
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, $40,950 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,760) and the ninetieth ($71,270) 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 $44,626 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 $40,950 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.