School Psychologists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,913
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$14,377
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,932
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
$70,290
Kept after tax
$55,913
Worth in national money
$60,932
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is among the lower-paying states for school psychologists. The middle earner takes $70,290, ranking 46 of 51 states — about 26.77% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 145.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $70,290 you keep $55,913 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $60,932 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $74,370, since top earners drag the number up.
- Missouri ranks 46 of 51 for school psychologists, with a median of $70,290 — about 26.77% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, school psychologists sits at 145 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 $55,913 after the full tax stack, from $70,290. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $60,932 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $74,370 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,410 |
| This salary | $70,290 |
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 | $55,913 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,279 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$959 |
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 | $66,926 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,325 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $70,290 as a midpoint for Missouri, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $57,290 and the ninetieth is $100,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $55,913 take-home in Missouri comes from $70,290. 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 145 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $60,932, the adjusted value of that $70,290 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 145 of 488 in the state.
- The Missouri median of $70,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $57,290 to $100,410. 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 $55,913, from $70,290, 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 145 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $60,932 — the adjusted value of that $70,290 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 145 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $74,370, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $57,290 at the tenth percentile, $100,410 at the ninetieth.
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 $60,932 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, $55,913 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.
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 $74,370. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($57,290 to $100,410) 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 $60,932 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 $55,913 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.