Security Guards in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,672
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$6,718
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,695
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
$40,390
Kept after tax
$33,672
Worth in national money
$36,695
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Missouri pays security guards a middle wage of $40,390, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 6.23% above the national middle.
- Against 488 occupations Missouri publishes, security guards lands at 393. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $40,390 you keep $33,672, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,695 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $45,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Missouri's median for security guards is $40,390, about 6.23% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Missouri, this work ranks 393 of 488 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for security guards on $40,390 is $33,672. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,695 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 $45,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,860 |
| This salary | $40,390 |
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 | $33,672 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,633 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,055 |
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 | $39,194 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,276 |
| 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 $40,390. The published range is $31,040 up to $68,860, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $33,672, worked from $40,390. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 393 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,695, the adjusted value of that $40,390 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 393 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for security guards in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,040 to $68,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Missouri take-home of $33,672, on $40,390 for work ranking 393 of 488 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 393 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $36,695 — the adjusted value of that $40,390 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 393 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 $45,100, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,040 at the bottom tenth to $68,860 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $36,695.
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, $33,672 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 $45,100. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,040) and the ninetieth ($68,860) 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 $36,695 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 $33,672 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.