Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,918
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$19,612
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,836
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
$85,530
Kept after tax
$65,918
Worth in national money
$71,836
State rank
37
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Missouri pays this job a middle wage of $85,530, 37 of 46 states and about 18% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, this job comes in at 86 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $85,530 you keep $65,918 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,836 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $93,990, since top earners drag the number up.
- Missouri's $85,530 median for software quality assurance analysts and testers places it 37 of 46 states, about 18% 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.
- Software quality assurance analysts and testers ranks 86 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.
- Retained pay in Missouri is $65,918 after the full tax stack, from $85,530. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,836 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $93,990 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $55,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $85,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,350 |
| This salary | $85,530 |
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 | $65,918 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,000 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$829 |
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 | $81,148 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,146 |
| 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 quality assurance analysts and testers in Missouri earn under $85,530 and half over. The published range runs $55,030 at the tenth percentile to $141,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Missouri's $65,918, worked from $85,530. 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 86 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $71,836, the adjusted value of that $85,530 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 86 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for software quality assurance analysts and testers in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $55,030 to $141,350; 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.
- The Missouri take-home of $65,918, on $85,530 for work ranking 86 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 86 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $71,836 — the adjusted value of that $85,530 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 86 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $93,990 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $55,030 at the bottom tenth to $141,350 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $71,836 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Missouri then takes its own share, leaving $65,918.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $93,990. 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 ($55,030) and the ninetieth ($141,350) 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 $71,836 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 $65,918 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.