Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,149
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$8,841
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,703
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$46,990
Kept after tax
$38,149
Worth in national money
$43,703
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays this job a middle wage of $46,990, 50 of 51 states and about 20.83% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 486 occupations Mississippi reports figures for, this is number 264.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,990 you keep $38,149 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,703 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,130, since top earners drag the number up.
- Mississippi's $46,990 median for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors places it 50 of 51 states, about 20.83% 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.
- In Mississippi's occupational distribution, substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors sits at 264 of 486 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $38,149 after the full tax stack, from $46,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,703 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,130 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,310 |
| This salary | $46,990 |
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 Mississippi | $38,149 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,936 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,605 |
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 | $44,765 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,151 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Mississippi earn under $46,990 and half over. The published range runs $32,770 at the tenth percentile to $77,310 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 Mississippi's $38,149, worked from $46,990. 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 264 of 486.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,703 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 264.
- Figures are distribution medians for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,770 to $77,310; 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 Mississippi take-home of $38,149, on $46,990 for work ranking 264 of 486 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 264 of 486 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,703, worked from $46,990, 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 Mississippi address, on work sitting at 264 of 486 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 $52,130 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 $32,770 at the bottom tenth to $77,310 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. Mississippi is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,703 in national terms.
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 Mississippi adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,149 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Mississippi is $52,130. 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 ($32,770) and the ninetieth ($77,310) 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?
Mississippi'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 $43,703 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 $38,149 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.