Technical Writers in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,839
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$18,001
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,480
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
$80,840
Kept after tax
$62,839
Worth in national money
$68,480
State rank
29
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Missouri is 29 of 45 states for technical writers, with a middle wage of $80,840. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Missouri reports, technical writers comes in at 99 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,840 the take-home is $62,839; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,480 would nationally. The average comes to $92,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Missouri ranks 29 of 45 for technical writers at $80,840. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Technical writers ranks 99 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.
- Post-tax income for technical writers in Missouri, on $80,840, is $62,839 — equivalent to $68,480 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $92,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $192,040 |
| This salary | $80,840 |
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 | $62,839 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,701 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$869 |
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 | $76,772 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,201 |
| 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 $80,840. The published range is $51,170 up to $192,040, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $62,839 take-home in Missouri comes from $80,840. 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 99 of 488.
- Two cautions on $68,480, the adjusted value of that $80,840 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Missouri. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 99 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for technical writers in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,170 to $192,040. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $62,839, from $80,840, 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 99 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 45 for it.
- This $68,480 adjusted figure, worked from $80,840, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 99 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 99 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 $92,480 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 $51,170 at the bottom tenth to $192,040 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 $68,480 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 $62,839.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $92,480. 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 ($51,170) and the ninetieth ($192,040) 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 $68,480 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 $62,839 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.