BLS metro-level wage data places Athletes and Sports Competitors pay in St. Louis, MO-IL at a median of $203,390 per year, drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared to the national median of $66,710, St. Louis pays +205% above, signaling either concentrated employer demand, a cost-of-living premium, or both. Approximately 320 athletes and sports competitorss are employed across the St. Louis MSA in SOC 27-2021.

Full percentile-band wage data is not published for this occupation-metro combination, typically because BLS suppresses detailed breakdowns when the metro employment count is small enough to risk identifying individual employers.

Metro figures capture where you actually work, not just where you live — which matters for commuters. BLS draws metro boundaries from the OMB MSA definitions, so St. Louis, MO-IL covers the central city plus outlying counties tied to the metro economically. Remember that OEWS wages reflect base pay only: employer-provided health insurance, retirement matches, stock options, signing bonuses, overtime, and tips are excluded and can add 20-40% to real total compensation. Before using this metro median as a negotiation anchor, triangulate against the same occupation's national profile (linked below), its state-wide MO data, and peer-metro comparisons — a median is a starting point, not a ceiling.