Tree Trimmers and Pruners in Missouri

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,370
after federal, FICA and Missouri tax
Tax takes
$11,770
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,802
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
$61,140
Kept after tax
$49,370
Worth in national money
$53,802
State rank
10
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for tree trimmers and pruners is strong here. Missouri's middle earner gets $61,140, putting the state 10 of 49 — about 19.98% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Missouri reports figures for, this is number 196.
- Missouri is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,140 the take-home is $49,370; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,802 would nationally. The average lands at $57,080, below the middle of the range.
- For tree trimmers and pruners, Missouri sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $61,140, ranking 10 of 49 and running about 19.98% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Missouri's occupational distribution, tree trimmers and pruners sits at 196 of 488 — 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.
- Post-tax income for tree trimmers and pruners in Missouri, on $61,140, is $49,370 — equivalent to $53,802 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 $57,080 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tree Trimmers and Pruners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,950 |
| This salary | $61,140 |
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 | $49,370 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,306 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,004 |
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 | $58,730 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,215 |
| 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 tree trimmers and pruners in Missouri earn under $61,140 and half over. The published range runs $37,560 at the tenth percentile to $70,950 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 $49,370, worked from $61,140. 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 196 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Missouri, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,802, the adjusted value of that $61,140 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 196 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for tree trimmers and pruners in Missouri, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,560 to $70,950; 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 $49,370, on $61,140 for work ranking 196 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 196 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Missouri, so $53,802 — the adjusted value of that $61,140 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 196 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 $57,080 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,560 and the top tenth $70,950, so most people doing this work in Missouri sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,802.
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 $49,370.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $57,080. 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 ($37,560 to $70,950) 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 $53,802 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 $49,370 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.