Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $73K, rent takes 23% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,097/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondaries typically earn — is $49K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,942/month. At HUD’s $1,097/month FMR, rent would take 37% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $73K locally vs. $77K nationally, a 5% difference.

Missouri pays $73K median vs. the U.S. average of $77K — that’s -5%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.97), the purchasing-power equivalent is $82K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $73,180 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $49,030, and experienced recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondaries can clear $102,760. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,764/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,097/month, which eats 23% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Missouri has a Regional Price Parity of 88.97 (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 recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary salary is worth about $82,252 in national-average purchasing power.

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.