Missouri · BLS May 2025
Also called food prep. SOC 35-2021.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 13,650 food preparation workers working in Missouri. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · Missouri
$31,510A year, or $15.15 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $28,600 | $13.75 |
| 25th percentile | $29,220 | $14.05 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $31,510 | $15.15 |
| 75th percentile | $37,050 | $17.81 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $44,440 | $21.37 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $34,040 | $16.37 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $31,510 salary in Missouri, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in Missouri sit at 90.8 against a national average of 100, so $31,510 earned here buys what $34,696 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for food preparation workers in Missouri is $31,510 a year, or $15.15 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
On the median wage of $31,510, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $26,952 a year, or roughly $2,246 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 14.5%.
Missouri takes $546 of it in state income tax.
No. The median in Missouri is 10.8% below the national median of $35,320.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Missouri sit at 90.8 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
It is 0.45 times the median household income of $70,702. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Missouri run at 90.8 against a national average of 100, with rents at 69.9, so $31,510 here buys about what $34,696 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $44,440 a year or more, against $28,600 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, employer and the part of Missouri someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
The survey counted 13,650 of these jobs in Missouri for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 19% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources