Missouri · rates effective Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026 · verified 2026-08-12
Missouri Paycheck Calculator 2026
2-4.7% state brackets on taxable wages in Missouri, plus a city income tax in St. Louis City and 1 other city.
Missouri's top rate for 2026 is 4.7% — not the 4.95% many sites still show — after the first $1,348 of taxable income tax-free and a standard deduction matching the federal amounts. St. Louis and Kansas City residents pay an extra 1% earnings tax. This calculator uses the official 2026 formula.
Official 2026 tables, never copiedSources stamped & dated99 golden tests before publish
CEBy the Calceva data desk · Verified against official sources · Updated 2026-08-12 · 3 min read
The 4.7% state that half the internet still gets wrong
Missouri's top rate for 2026 is 4.7% - not the 4.95% that circulates on many calculator sites, a leftover from an out-of-date schedule. It is a small difference with a story: Missouri's rate has been stepping down through triggered cuts, and secondary sources have not kept up. We read the official schedule directly; the stamp and link are in the dossier below.
The brackets themselves are compact - Missouri's ladder tops out quickly, so most full-time salaries pay close to the top rate on their taxable income after the federal-style standard deduction. One more line to know about: St. Louis and Kansas City each levy a 1% earnings tax on people who live or work there - enter it in the local-rate field above if that is you; everywhere else in Missouri, the local line is zero.
The 1% is not a percentage of your state taxable income
This is the part that catches people, and it is worth a paragraph. The earnings tax is charged on your gross wages, with no standard deduction of any kind. St. Louis's own return goes from “Gross salaries, wages, etc.” straight to “Earnings Tax (1% of line 4)”, and the only thing that may come off in between is a proration for days worked outside the city. On a $60,000 salary that is $600 a year, not the $439 you would get by applying 1% after Missouri's $16,100 standard deduction.
One thing does come off: pre-tax money. Missouri's enabling statute excludes “contributions to any deferred compensation plans, including ... salary reduction plans, cafeteria plans”, so your 401(k) and your cafeteria-plan premiums are outside the base. What is left is essentially box 1 of your W-2. Contribute $6,000 to a 401(k) and the earnings tax falls to $540.
4.7% for 2026. The 4.95% figure still shown by several calculator sites is an outdated schedule - Missouri's triggered cuts have stepped the rate down. The official current schedule is linked and dated in the sources below.
Do St. Louis or Kansas City tax paychecks?
Yes - both levy a 1% earnings tax on residents and on nonresidents working in the city. Enter 1% in the calculator's local field if that applies to you; the rest of Missouri has no local wage tax.
Why does my Missouri taxable income look like my federal one?
Missouri starts from federal-style deductions, so the standard deduction amounts mirror the federal figures before the state brackets apply.
We never copy another calculator. Each rate is read from the official document, dated, and re-checked when agencies publish changes. This page's paper trail:
stlouis-mo.gov + kcmo.gov earnings tax pages — St. Louis City and Kansas City: 1% earnings tax (residents on all earnings; nonresidents on work performed in the city). No other MO localities.
Verified 2026-08-12
Missouri Employer's Tax Guide, Form 4282 (2026) — Withholding (Form 4282, 2026): annualized wages less the filing-status standard deduction ($16,100 single, married filing separate, or married with a working spouse; $32,200 married with a non-working spouse; $24,150 head of household), then the annual withholding brackets (0% to 4.7%), divided by the pay periods and rounded to the whole dollar. Reproduces the guide's worked example.
Verified 2026-08-12
Missouri Employer's Tax Guide, Form 4282 (2026) — Supplemental wages (Form 4282): the employer may withhold a flat percentage rate of 4.7 percent of the supplemental wages, or use the aggregate method.
Verified 2026-08-12
City of St. Louis Form E-1, Individual Earnings Tax Return, Collector of Revenue; and Missouri Revised Statutes 92.111.2 and 92.113 (https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=92.113) — The 1% earnings tax of St. Louis and Kansas City is levied on gross wages, with no standard deduction. Form E-1 goes from "Please report salaries, wages, etc. from box 1 on each W-2" and "Gross salaries, wages, etc." straight to "Earnings Tax (1% of line 4)", the only subtraction being a non-residency proration; the form adds that "A resident is subject to the earnings tax on gross income, regardless of where it is earned." Pre-tax deferrals are excluded: RSMo 92.113 says the term shall not include "any contributions to any deferred compensation plans, including but not limited to any salary reduction plans, cafeteria plans or any other similar plans deferring the receipt of compensation ... if such contribution is not subject to Missouri state income tax at the time such contribution is made." The base is therefore W-2 box 1: gross pay less 401(k) and Section 125.
Federal lines
Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare on this page follow IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Publication 15 and Publication 15-T, verified 2026-08-07. Our federal engine reproduces 2,175 of 2,175 Publication 15-T cells on every build. The six federal sources, itemised.
Matches the agency
Reproduces the agency’s own published figures. Our implementation of the Missouri withholding formula reproduces the worked example of Missouri Employer's Tax Guide, Form 4282 (2026), withholding formula exactly as the agency prints it, re-checked on every build. Check them in the official PDF.
Cite this pageCalceva, “Missouri Paycheck Calculator (2026),” verified 2026-08-12, https://calceva.com/missouri-paycheck-calculator/