Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,932
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,308
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,236
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
$59,240
Kept after tax
$47,932
Worth in national money
$52,236
State rank
45
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 $59,240. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 17.77% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Missouri, this sits in the middle: 226 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,240 you keep $47,932 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,236 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, Missouri sits in the lower band at $59,240, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 17.77%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education ranks 226 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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $47,932 after the full tax stack, from $59,240. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,236 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,300 |
| This salary | $59,240 |
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
| Take-home in Missouri | $47,932 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,779 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,009 |
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 | $56,941 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,220 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 $59,240. The published range is $40,540 up to $79,300, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $47,932, from $59,240, 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 226 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 $52,236, the adjusted value of that $59,240 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 226 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,540 to $79,300. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $47,932 from $59,240. 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 226 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $52,236 — the adjusted value of that $59,240 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 226 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,540 and the top tenth $79,300, 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 $52,236.
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, $47,932 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 ($40,540 to $79,300) 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 $52,236 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 $47,932 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.