Teachers and Instructors, All Other Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $56K, rent takes 29.2% 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 teachers and instructors, all others typically earn — is $32K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,946/month. At HUD’s $1,097/month FMR, rent would take 56% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 16% below the national median — $56K here vs. $66K nationally. Cost of living is 11% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Missouri pays $56K median vs. the U.S. average of $66K — that’s -16%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.97), the purchasing-power equivalent is $63K — below the national median.

The median is $55,870 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $32,430, and experienced teachers and instructors, all others can clear $85,510. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,755/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,097/month, which eats 29.2% 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 teachers and instructors, all other salary is worth about $62,796 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.