Transportation Security Screeners in Missouri
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,858
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$9,352
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,615
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
$51,210
Kept after tax
$41,858
Worth in national money
$45,615
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Missouri is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $51,210, ranking 45 of 45 states — about 23.3% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Missouri, this sits in the middle: 276 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $51,210 the take-home is $41,858; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,615 would nationally. The average comes to $54,430, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Missouri ranks 45 of 45 for transportation security screeners, with a median of $51,210 — about 23.3% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Transportation security screeners ranks 276 of 488 occupations in Missouri by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for transportation security screeners in Missouri, on $51,210, is $41,858 — equivalent to $45,615 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 $54,430 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,910 |
| This salary | $51,210 |
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 | $41,858 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,327 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,029 |
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 | $49,381 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,244 |
| 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 $51,210. The published range is $40,850 up to $68,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Missouri the take-home figure of $41,858, from $51,210, 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 276 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,615, the adjusted value of that $51,210 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 276 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for transportation security screeners in Missouri the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,850 to $68,910. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Missouri is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,858 from $51,210. 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 276 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $45,615 — the adjusted value of that $51,210 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 276 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 $54,430 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,850 at the tenth percentile, $68,910 at the ninetieth.
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 $45,615 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $41,858.
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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $54,430. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,850 to $68,910) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Missouri rather than a national figure.
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 $45,615 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 $41,858 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.