Respiratory Therapists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,230
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$17,160
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,727
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
$78,390
Kept after tax
$61,230
Worth in national money
$66,727
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Missouri pays respiratory therapists a middle wage of $78,390, 39 of 51 states and about 4.73% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, respiratory therapists comes in at 109 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $78,390 the take-home is $61,230; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,727 would nationally. The average lands at $76,490, below the middle of the range.
- Missouri's $78,390 median for respiratory therapists places it 39 of 51 states, about 4.73% 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.
- Respiratory therapists ranks 109 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.
- Post-tax income for respiratory therapists in Missouri, on $78,390, is $61,230 — equivalent to $66,727 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $76,490 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,730 |
| This salary | $78,390 |
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 | $61,230 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,977 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$890 |
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 | $74,485 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,229 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,390 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $60,950 and the ninetieth is $95,730 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $61,230 take-home in Missouri comes from $78,390. 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 109 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,727 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 109.
- The Missouri median of $78,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $60,950 to $95,730. 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 $61,230, from $78,390, 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 109 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,727, worked from $78,390, 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 109 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $60,950 and the top tenth $95,730, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $66,727 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, $61,230 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($60,950 to $95,730) 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 $66,727 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 $61,230 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.