Waiters and Waitresses Salary in Missouri

In Missouri, waiters and waitresses earn a median $29,400 a year, well below the national median of $35,230 (−17%); the state ranks 34th of 51 states by median. That is 38% less than the median across all occupations in Missouri ($47,800). Among neighbouring states, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois and Kentucky pay more (up to $36,120 in Kansas) and Tennessee, Arkansas, Iowa and Oklahoma pay less (down to $17,910 in Oklahoma). Missouri employs 41,640 waiters and waitresses, 14.2 per 1,000 jobs, the 20th largest count of any state. A location quotient of 0.97 is close to the national share.

Missouri vs the United States, May 2025

Waiters and Waitresses: wage percentiles, mean, employment, jobs per 1,000 and location quotient in Missouri and nationally, May 2025
AreaBasisPercentile wageMeanEmploymentJobs per 1,000Location quotient
10th25thMedian75th90th
MissouriHourly$13.75$13.75$14.13$19.30$29.54$18.5741,64014.180.97
Annual$28,600$28,600$29,400$40,150$61,440$38,620
United StatesHourly$8.70$13.34$16.94$22.65$31.12$19.262,270,910––
Annual$18,100$27,750$35,230$47,110$64,720$40,060
$0$20k$40k$60k$80k10th10th: $28,600$28,60025th25th: $28,600$28,600MedianMedian: $29,400$29,40075th75th: $40,150$40,15090th90th: $61,440$61,440US median
Missouri annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.
Rank by median
34th of 51 states
Rank by employment
20th of 51 states
Location quotient
0.97
Jobs per 1,000
14.18

Ranks count the 50 states and DC with a published value. The location quotient is the occupation's share of Missouri's employment divided by its national share; 1.00 means the same share as the nation. Take-home pay at these wages: FastCalc's take-home pay calculator.

Metropolitan areas in Missouri

8 metropolitan areas and 4 nonmetropolitan areas touching Missouri publish a row for waiters and waitresses, sorted by median. Areas crossing a state line are listed under every state they touch; a linked metro has its own profile.

AreaMedian hourlyMedian annual10th pct (annual)90th pct (annual)EmploymentJobs per 1,000Location quotient
Kansas City, MO-KS$17.35$36,080$28,600$63,26016,54015.091.03
St. Louis, MO-IL$15.00$31,200$28,600$62,52020,17015.041.03
St. Joseph, MO-KS$14.66$30,490$28,600$58,75060011.050.76
Jefferson City, MO$14.56$30,280$28,600$50,45082010.180.70
Springfield, MO$14.11$29,350$28,600$59,6603,05013.680.94
Columbia, MO$14.06$29,250$28,600$58,9602,12019.691.35
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL$13.81$28,710$28,600$60,52082018.381.26
Joplin, MO-KS$13.75$28,600$28,600$58,8001,22013.970.96
Southwest Missouri nonmetropolitan area$13.98$29,080$28,600$57,2802,00025.081.72
Southeast Missouri nonmetropolitan area$13.77$28,650$28,600$50,3901,6209.860.68
Central Missouri nonmetropolitan area$13.75$28,600$28,600$50,0402,28014.721.01
North Missouri nonmetropolitan area$13.75$28,600$28,600$48,5201,13010.660.73

Neighbouring states

StateMedian hourlyMedian annualEmploymentLocation quotient
Missouri$14.13$29,40041,6400.97
Arkansas$11.86$24,68017,8800.94
Iowa$10.10$21,00022,4100.98
Illinois$15.00$31,20072,9000.82
Kansas$17.36$36,12019,4800.93
Kentucky$14.26$29,66027,1500.93
Nebraska$16.24$33,77013,3100.89
Oklahoma$8.61$17,91027,0001.08
Tennessee$13.35$27,76052,1201.09

See the national page for Waiters and Waitresses (every state ranked) and the Missouri wage profile (every occupation in the state).

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Missouri estimates.

  • Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
  • Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.