Take-home pay compared · Tax year 2026
Missouri vs Tennessee taxes
Neither state takes a payroll levy, so the whole difference is Missouri's income tax, with a city earnings tax on top in Kansas City and St. Louis. Type your salary to see what it comes to.
Missouri
$2,269.42
take-home a paycheck · $59,005 a year
Effective tax rate 21.3%
Tennessee
$2,368.95
take-home a paycheck · $61,593 a year
Effective tax rate 17.9%
On $75,000, you keep $2,588 more a year in Tennessee than in Missouri. That is $99.53 a paycheck, paid every two weeks.
| Deduction | Missouri | Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$295.00 | −$295.00 |
| Social Security & Medicare | −$220.67 | −$220.67 |
| State income tax | −$99.53 | None |
| State payroll deductions | None | None |
| Total tax | −$615.20 | −$515.67 |
| Take-home | $2,269.42 | $2,368.95 |
Income and payroll taxes only, for wage income with no pre-tax deductions or dependents. Full working for each side: Missouri paycheck calculator · Tennessee paycheck calculator.
Missouri and Tennessee side by side, 2026
| Missouri | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | 2% – 4.7% | None |
| Standard deduction (single) | $16,100 | — |
| Payroll deductions | None | None |
Take-home at every salary
| Salary | Missouri | Tennessee | Difference | Keeps more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $25,812 | $26,285 | $473 | Tennessee |
| $40,000 | $33,377 | $34,320 | $943 | Tennessee |
| $50,000 | $40,942 | $42,355 | $1,413 | Tennessee |
| $60,000 | $48,507 | $50,390 | $1,883 | Tennessee |
| $75,000 | $59,005 | $61,593 | $2,588 | Tennessee |
| $100,000 | $75,417 | $79,180 | $3,763 | Tennessee |
| $125,000 | $91,766 | $96,704 | $4,938 | Tennessee |
| $150,000 | $107,678 | $113,791 | $6,113 | Tennessee |
| $200,000 | $140,464 | $148,927 | $8,463 | Tennessee |
| $250,000 | $172,369 | $183,182 | $10,813 | Tennessee |
| $500,000 | $317,914 | $340,477 | $22,563 | Tennessee |
| Salary | Missouri | Tennessee | Difference | Keeps more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $51,444 | $52,570 | $1,126 | Tennessee |
| $80,000 | $66,574 | $68,640 | $2,066 | Tennessee |
| $100,000 | $81,704 | $84,710 | $3,006 | Tennessee |
| $150,000 | $117,829 | $123,185 | $5,356 | Tennessee |
| $200,000 | $151,615 | $159,321 | $7,706 | Tennessee |
| $250,000 | $187,412 | $197,468 | $10,056 | Tennessee |
| $300,000 | $221,887 | $234,293 | $12,406 | Tennessee |
| $400,000 | $290,837 | $307,943 | $17,106 | Tennessee |
| $500,000 | $354,647 | $376,453 | $21,806 | Tennessee |
Where the difference comes from
Neither state deducts anything for unemployment, disability or paid leave, and federal tax is the same in both. Every dollar of the gap is Missouri’s income tax: $2,588 on $75,000, $6,113 on $150,000 and $10,813 on $250,000, all kept in Tennessee.
Missouri’s schedule has eight bands, but it is less graduated than that sounds. The top rate of 4.7% begins at just $9,436 of taxable income, far below any full-time salary, and Missouri starts from the federal standard deduction. A single filer on $75,000 is taxed on $58,900, and in practice pays a flat 4.7% on it less a fixed $180.63 saved in the lower bands. That discount does not grow with income, which is why the gap tracks the salary so closely.
Couples pay a little more than two single people
Because Missouri does not widen its bands for couples, a married couple gets the lower-band discount once, not twice. A couple filing jointly on $150,000 pays $5,356 in Missouri income tax, which is $180.63 more than two single people on $75,000 each. Tennessee has nothing to split, so the couple keeps $5,356 more there.
Kansas City and St. Louis
The Missouri figures leave out the only local income tax in the state. Kansas City and St. Louis each charge a 1% earnings tax, and it reaches further than people expect: residents pay it on all their earnings wherever they work, and people who live elsewhere pay it on what they earn inside the city. On $75,000 it adds $750 to the Missouri side, taking the gap to $3,338. Anywhere else in Missouri the figures are complete.
Tennessee has no local income tax anywhere, so the Tennessee column holds in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga alike.
What the take-home figure does not count
Tennessee collects its revenue at the till instead, through sales tax, which it also charges on groceries at a reduced rate. A household that spends most of what it earns hands back part of the income tax saving every time it shops; one that saves a large share keeps more of it. Property taxes and housing costs differ too, and none of that is in these figures.
Investment income is the other difference. Tennessee taxes none of it. Missouri has subtracted capital gains in full since January 1, 2025, while still taxing wages. This page models wages only.
Questions people ask
- Do you take home more in Missouri or Tennessee on $75,000?
- Tennessee, by $2,588 a year, or $216 a month, for a single filer in 2026. That counts federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and every state payroll deduction.
- Is the difference the same at every salary?
- No, but the same side stays ahead. The gap is $473 a year at $30,000 and $10,813 at $250,000, for a single filer.
- Does Tennessee tax any kind of income?
- No. Tennessee levies no tax on wages, and a 2014 constitutional amendment prohibits one on earned income. The Hall tax on interest and dividends was phased down and eliminated from the 2021 tax year, so Tennessee now taxes no personal income at all. No city or county there levies an income tax.
- Do Kansas City and St. Louis add to the Missouri figure?
- Yes, if they apply to you. Each city levies a 1% earnings tax. Residents pay it on all their earnings, even from work outside the city, and nonresidents pay it on what they earn inside the city. It is not included in the Missouri figures on this page.
- Do Missouri's brackets widen for married couples?
- No. Missouri applies one rate table to every filing status. Couples do get the doubled federal standard deduction, which Missouri uses, but the point where the top 4.7% rate begins is the same for a couple as for a single filer.
What this comparison covers
Income tax and payroll deductions on wages: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, every state payroll deduction. It does not compare sales tax, property tax, housing or the cost of living, which can outweigh the difference in take-home pay. Figures assume the standard deduction, no dependents and no pre-tax retirement contributions. See how we calculate.
Where the Missouri figures come from
Every Missouri number on this page was read from the documents below — the state's own, not a summary of them. Nothing here is estimated. If a figure looks wrong, the source is one click away, and we would rather you checked.
- Withholding Formulador.mo.gov
The 2026 rate bands and standard deduction, with the department's own worked example.
- Year-to-year changes in Missouri income taxdor.mo.gov
The rate reduction schedule and which top rate applies for the year.
- Unemployment Insurance Taxlabor.mo.gov
That no part of the unemployment tax an employer owes can be deducted from a worker's pay.
Where the Tennessee figures come from
Every Tennessee number on this page was read from the documents below — the state's own, not a summary of them. Nothing here is estimated. If a figure looks wrong, the source is one click away, and we would rather you checked.
- Tennessee Department of Revenuetn.gov
The taxes Tennessee levies following the repeal of the Hall income tax — none of them falls on wages.
- How do I determine if my employment qualifies as covered employment?lwdsupport.tn.gov
That the unemployment tax premium on a worker's wages is paid by the employer.