Missouri uses a set of progressive tax brackets to calculate state income tax on your taxable wages. Your employer starts with gross pay, subtracts pre-tax deductions and Missouri-specific adjustments, then applies the Missouri bracket table. Any state allowances or credits you claimed on your Missouri W-4 reduce the taxable amount further. This calculator uses those rules to estimate Missouri state withholding for each paycheck.

A typical Missouri paycheck includes four main tax lines: federal income tax, Missouri state income tax, Social Security tax at 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base, and Medicare tax at 1.45% of all wages plus 0.9% on wages above the federal threshold. Your employer may also withhold amounts for employer benefits, retirement plans, and any local earnings taxes that apply in your city.

Some Missouri cities and local jurisdictions have additional earnings or income taxes that can be withheld from paychecks. This calculator focuses on state-level Missouri tax, federal tax, and FICA. If you know that your city or local area has its own earnings tax, you can approximate its effect by adding it as a post-tax deduction or by comparing your pay stub with the calculator's net amount.

Pay frequency splits your annual income into more or fewer checks but does not change your total annual salary. The calculator takes your annual or hourly income, divides it by the number of pay periods, and then applies Missouri and federal tax formulas to each paycheck. The same annual income will produce smaller individual checks if you are paid weekly rather than monthly, but the total tax and total net pay over the year remain consistent.

Pre-tax deductions lower your taxable income for both federal and Missouri state calculations, which reduces the tax withheld from each paycheck. For example, contributing more to a traditional 401(k) or HSA may reduce your Missouri state income tax as well as federal and FICA. In the calculator, increasing pre-tax deductions will typically decrease your total tax and increase your net pay, unless you are already near the Social Security wage base or other limits.

This tool uses current 2026 federal and Missouri rules, including current bracket thresholds, standard deductions, and FICA rates, to estimate net pay and withholding. It is suitable for planning and W-4 review but is not a substitute for IRS or Missouri Department of Revenue calculators. For complex situations with multiple jobs or other income sources, consider using an IRS withholding estimator together with this Missouri-specific paycheck view.

This calculator is designed for W-2 employees who receive regular paychecks and employer withholding. If you are self-employed or primarily receive 1099 income, you pay estimated taxes using different rules, including self-employment tax. You can still use the tool to understand how a W-2 job in Missouri would affect your net pay, but for your own business income, visit the self-employment tools such as the self-employment tax calculator and 1099 paycheck calculator on USAJobsKit.