Software Developers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$92,479
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$33,641
26.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$100,781
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
$126,120
Kept after tax
$92,479
Worth in national money
$100,781
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Missouri pays software developers around $126,120 at the midpoint, 27 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Missouri. It ranks 20 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Missouri does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $126,120 you keep $92,479, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $100,781 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $123,810, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For software developers the Missouri median is $126,120, ranking 27 of 50 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.
- Within Missouri, software developers ranks 20 of 488 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Missouri income tax, retained pay for software developers on $126,120 is $92,479. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $100,781 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 $123,810 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Software Developers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $126,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $169,340 |
| This salary | $126,120 |
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 | $92,479 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $97,469 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$478 |
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 | $118,904 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$680 |
| 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 software developers in Missouri earn under $126,120 and half over. The published range runs $72,570 at the tenth percentile to $169,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $92,479, from $126,120, 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 20 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $100,781 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 20.
- Figures are distribution medians for software developers in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $72,570 to $169,340; 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 $92,479 from $126,120. 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 20 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $100,781, worked from $126,120, 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 20 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $72,570, the highest tenth $169,340, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Missouri sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $100,781 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $92,479 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($72,570) and the ninetieth ($169,340) 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 $100,781 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 $92,479 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.