Missouriincome tax up to 4.7%, 23rd highest property tax, median home $240K

Worth knowing before you move to Missouri

Missouri stopped taxing Social Security and public pensions for all residents in 2024 and has been cutting its top income-tax rate toward 4.5%. Home prices are well below the national average in both Kansas City and St. Louis. The state's property tax on vehicles, paid every year, surprises new arrivals; tornado exposure is high across the state.

What Missouri taxes, and what it doesn't

Missouri levies a graduated income tax that tops out at 4.7%. A household earning $75,000 pays an effective 4.5%, about $3,344 a year; at $150,000 the effective rate is 4.6%. Among the 41 states that tax income, Missouri has the 20th highest effective rate at $100,000 of income.

Property tax runs 0.88% of home value a year, roughly $2,112 on the state's median home of $240K. The national effective rate is about 1.10%, and Missouri has the 23rd highest rate of the 50 states.

Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.33%, the 12th highest in the country (the state portion is 4.225%).

For retirees: Missouri is one of the few states that taxes Social Security benefits, pension income is partly exempt, and there is no estate or inheritance tax.

Capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.

Housing and the cost of living in Missouri

Missouri's cost of living index is 86, where 100 is the national average; that is the 5th cheapest of the 50 states.

The median home costs $240K, 21% below the national figure and the 11th lowest among the states. A two-bedroom rents for about $1,100 a month.

Carrying costs matter as much as the price: home insurance averages $2,200 a year, flood coverage adds about $700 where it is needed, car insurance runs $1,770.

Budget $130 a month for electricity and gas, $430 a month in groceries for two, $1,050 a month for full-time infant care.

Safety, health and schools

Violent crime is 581 incidents per 100,000 residents in the FBI's 2023 Crime Data Explorer figures, above the median state (387); Missouri is the 7th most violent of the 50 by that measure. Property crime is 2,695 per 100,000.

Life expectancy is 75.3 years (County Health Rankings 2024). 8.2% of residents have no health insurance, and the state has expanded Medicaid. The Commonwealth Fund's 2023 scorecard ranks Missouri's health system 43rd of 50.

Education Week's 2023 Quality Counts report ranks K-12 schools 33rd in the country.

Politics, guns and social policy

Politically, Missouri is a solidly Republican state that went to Trump by 19 points in 2024.

On guns, no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun, and Giffords grades the state's gun laws F.

Abortion is banned with narrow exceptions. Marijuana is legal for adults. Missouri is a right-to-work state, and the minimum wage is $12.30 an hour.

Climate, risk and getting around

Natural disaster risk is high. The main hazards are tornado, flood, ice-storm. Annual average air quality index is 38 (under 50 is good).

Missouri has a major hub airport, with about 95 nonstop destinations from its busiest airport.