Foresters Salary
Foresters in St. Louis, MO-IL make a median of $73,950 a year, or about $35.56 an hour. The range runs from $53K at the entry level to $114K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 95.09), that's roughly $77,768 in purchasing power. Rent on a 2-bedroom averages $1,218/month, or 25.1% of estimated take-home pay.
Where the paycheck goes
What $74K actually covers in St. Louis, month by month
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by St. Louis’s Regional Price Parity (95.09). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
About foresters
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What this looks like in St. Louis
Foresters pay in St. Louis tracks closely to the national median, $74K locally vs. $76K nationwide, a 3% difference. Rent runs $1,218/month for a 2-bedroom (HUD FMR), taking 25.3% of the median take-home. That's within the 30% rule, though not by much. Cost of living (RPP 95.09) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Pay and costs are both near average, leaving limited margin for savings at the median wage.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for foresters in metros near St. Louis, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | $86K | $83K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, St. Louis, MO-IL
Entry-level foresters (10th percentile) start around $53K. Mid-career wages sit at $74K. Top earners bring in $114K or more, a $61K spread from bottom to top.
Foresters pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Foresters salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $107K | +40% | 820 |
| Massachusetts | $90K | +17% | 130 |
| Alaska | $87K | +14% | 80 |
| South Carolina | $87K | +14% | 250 |
| Maryland | $86K | +13% | 120 |
| Connecticut | $85K | +11% | 60 |
| Iowa | $83K | +9% | 50 |
| Illinois | $82K | +8% | 220 |
| Oregon | $81K | +7% | 670 |
| Vermont | $81K | +6% | 80 |
| Texas | $80K | +5% | 210 |
| Alabama | $80K | +4% | 240 |
| Washington | $78K | +3% | 950 |
| Pennsylvania | $78K | +2% | 310 |
| North Carolina | $78K | +2% | N/A |
| Georgia | $77K | +1% | 370 |
| Minnesota | $76K | +0% | 390 |
| Colorado | $76K | +0% | 210 |
| Michigan | $76K | -1% | 340 |
| Utah | $75K | -2% | 40 |
| District of Columbia | $75K | -2% | N/A |
| New York | $74K | -4% | 280 |
| Ohio | $73K | -4% | 160 |
| Tennessee | $72K | -6% | 120 |
| Virginia | $72K | -6% | 340 |
| Mississippi | $71K | -7% | 110 |
| Arkansas | $69K | -9% | 130 |
| New Mexico | $69K | -9% | 50 |
| Wyoming | $68K | -11% | 60 |
| Kansas | $68K | -12% | 40 |
| Montana | $67K | -12% | 240 |
| Arizona | $67K | -12% | 70 |
| Maine | $66K | -13% | 70 |
| Wisconsin | $66K | -14% | 570 |
| New Hampshire | $65K | -15% | 110 |
| Idaho | $65K | -15% | 280 |
| South Dakota | $64K | -16% | 120 |
| Florida | $64K | -16% | 380 |
| Missouri | $63K | -17% | 120 |
| West Virginia | $63K | -18% | 100 |
| Indiana | $61K | -20% | 160 |
| Kentucky | $56K | -26% | 120 |
| Nevada | $51K | -33% | N/A |
| Oklahoma | $51K | -33% | 120 |
Showing 1–10 of 44 states with published data
BLS does not publish data for every state when sample sizes are too small
Track foresters salary changes
BLS updates this data annually. We'll email you when St. Louis numbers change.
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Quick answers
The stuff people actually ask about this job
Can a forester afford a 2BR apartment alone in St. Louis?
Yes — at the median salary of $74K, rent takes 25.3% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,218/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.
What’s the entry-level salary for foresters in St. Louis?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new foresters typically earn — is $53K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,565/month. At HUD’s $1,218/month FMR, rent would take 34% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is forester a high-paying job in St. Louis?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $74K locally vs. $76K nationally, a 3% difference.
How does St. Louis compare to the national average for foresters?
St. Louis pays $74K median vs. the U.S. average of $76K — that’s -3%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.09), the purchasing-power equivalent is $78K — still ahead of the national median.
How much do foresters make in St. Louis, MO-IL?
The median is $73,950 a year, that works out to about $36 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $52,850, and experienced foresters can clear $114,130. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $74K enough to live in St. Louis?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,806/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,218/month, which eats 25.3% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.
How far does a foresters salary go in St. Louis?
St. Louis has a Regional Price Parity of 95.09 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median foresters salary is worth about $77,768 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do foresters get paid the most?
The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.