Soil and Plant Scientists in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,714
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$16,366
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,075
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
$76,080
Kept after tax
$59,714
Worth in national money
$65,075
State rank
21
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Missouri is 21 of 46 states for soil and plant scientists, with a middle wage of $76,080. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, soil and plant scientists comes in at 119 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $76,080 you keep $59,714 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $65,075 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $83,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- Missouri ranks 21 of 46 for soil and plant scientists at $76,080. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Soil and plant scientists ranks 119 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 $59,714 after the full tax stack, from $76,080. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $65,075 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $83,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,760 |
| This salary | $76,080 |
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 | $59,714 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,352 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$910 |
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 | $72,330 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,257 |
| 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 $76,080. The published range is $46,710 up to $135,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $59,714 take-home in Missouri comes from $76,080. 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 119 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $65,075 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 119.
- Reported values are medians; for soil and plant scientists in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,710 to $135,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $59,714, from $76,080, 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 119 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $65,075, worked from $76,080, 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 119 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 $83,970 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 $46,710 at the bottom tenth to $135,760 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $65,075 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Missouri adds its own income tax on top — which is why $59,714 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $83,970. 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 ($46,710) and the ninetieth ($135,760) 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 $65,075 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 $59,714 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.