Missouri Paycheck Calculator & Income Tax Rates (2026)

Missouri applies 8 rates to taxable income — that is, income after the state standard deduction or exemption. Only the slice of income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate.

Missouri's effective state rate climbs with income as more of your salary lands in higher bands. The last column shows the state rate on your next dollar at each level.

Missouri's joint brackets are the same as single brackets, so the marriage effect here comes from the deduction and the federal side. On $100,000 a joint return keeps $81,717 versus $75,389 for a single filer.

Missouri's income tax is graduated on paper and nearly flat in practice: rates step from 2% up to a top rate of 4.7% in narrow increments, and the top bracket begins below $10,000 of taxable income, so almost every full-time worker pays the top rate on most of their earnings. That top rate has fallen steadily — 6% as recently as 2017, 5.4% in 2019, 4.95% in 2023, 4.8% in 2024, and 4.7% in 2025 under a 2022 law whose remaining trigger cuts, to 4.6% and 4.5%, fire only when revenue grows enough; no trigger fired for 2026. Two bigger changes frame the year. In July 2025 Missouri became the first income-tax state to exempt all individual capital gains, effective for 2025 returns onward. And Missouri's governor and legislative leaders have pushed to phase out the income tax entirely in favor of a broader sales tax, a debate that will shape the next several sessions. Missouri also still lets taxpayers deduct part of their federal income tax.

Missouri's standard deduction equals the federal amount, and state itemizing is allowed if you itemized federally. Missouri still lets taxpayers deduct federal income tax paid — up to $5,000 single and $10,000 joint, with the deductible share sliding from 35% at low incomes to zero above $125,000 of Missouri AGI. Other breaks: a Working Family Credit tied to the federal EITC and a MOST 529 deduction of up to $8,000 per taxpayer.

Two cities levy earnings taxes: Kansas City and St. Louis each charge 1% on residents' wages wherever earned and on nonresidents' wages earned inside the city, plus 1% on business net profits. Both must be reauthorized by city voters every five years. Court rulings since 2023 forced St. Louis to refund nonresidents for remote days worked outside the city, so a suburban employee of a downtown firm owes tax only on in-city days. No other Missouri locality taxes income.

The state sales tax is 4.225%, but local governments lean heavily on sales taxes: city, county, transit, and special-district levies push the average combined rate to about 8.4% and above 10% in parts of St. Louis County and Kansas City. Groceries get a reduced 1.225% state rate but full local rates, so a grocery run still carries several percent in tax. Prescription drugs are exempt. Missouri only began taxing remote online sellers in 2023, later than nearly every other state.

Property taxes run slightly below average, around 0.9–1% of market value. Homes are assessed at 19% of market value; millage is highest in the St. Louis and Kansas City suburbs. A senior freeze, authorized in 2023 and expanded in 2024, lets counties freeze the bill for homeowners 62 and older, and most large counties have. A Property Tax Credit refunds part of the bill or rent to lower-income seniors and disabled residents. Vehicles carry an annual personal property tax.

Social Security benefits have been fully exempt since tax year 2024, when Missouri removed the income limits that used to phase the exemption out. Public pensions — Missouri state and local systems, federal civil service, and other government plans — are exempt up to the maximum Social Security benefit per person, also without income limits since 2024. Military retirement pay is 100% exempt. The gap is private retirement income: private pensions, 401(k) withdrawals, and traditional IRA distributions qualify only for a $6,000 exclusion that disappears once income exceeds modest thresholds, so most private-sector retirees pay the full 4.7% on those withdrawals. Capital gains in a taxable brokerage account, by contrast, are now entirely tax-free in Missouri.

Investors and business sellers win outright — selling appreciated stock or a company triggers zero state tax on the gain, a break no other income-tax state offers. W-2 earners get a near-flat 4.7%, mid-pack among Missouri's eight neighbors: below Illinois and Kansas, above Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Retirees on Social Security, military, or public pensions pay little; private 401(k) retirees pay the full rate. Kansas City and St. Louis residents add 1%. Dual-income couples face no marriage penalty; the top rate hits everyone early. Cross-border commuters get no reciprocity with Kansas or Illinois and claim a credit.

The median household income in Missouri is $55,000, which is $44,751 a year ($3,729 a month) after all taxes. That is close to the national median. After adjusting for cost of living, the purchasing power of that take-home is equivalent to $50,282 in an average-cost area.

Missouri ranks #23 of 50 for raw take-home pay and #12 for cost-adjusted purchasing power at $100,000. The 11-place gap between the two reflects a below-average cost of living that boosts real purchasing power. The best state (Alaska) leaves $79,125; the worst (Oregon) leaves $70,932. Missouri is $3,736 behind the leader.

City and Local Income Tax Calculators in Missouri

Missouri Tax Questions, Answered

Compare Missouri with Other Midwest States

Specific Salaries in Missouri