Columbia, MO Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 89.4) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Columbia, MO moved from $45,670 in May 2024 to $47,260 in May 2025 (+3.5%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Columbia, MO sits +0.4 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
General and Operations Managers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Columbia, MO
General and Operations Managers publishes $75,410 here versus $105,770 nationally (-28.7%; 3,440metro-area jobs). Next is Waiters and Waitresses at $29,250 locally versus $35,230 nationally (-17.0%).
- General and Operations Managers$75,410 in Columbia, MO sits 28.7% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (3,440 published local jobs).
- Waiters and Waitresses$29,250 in Columbia, MO sits 17.0% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (2,120 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$84,330 in Columbia, MO sits 13.6% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (3,680 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$31,390 in Columbia, MO sits 11.4% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,610 published local jobs).
General and Operations Managers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Columbia, MO; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 17860 · Columbia, MO $59K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #218/528
- RPP-LOW 89.4
- OCC-MID 336 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $312K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE +0.4 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Hagerstown-Marti…
- BOOK-FULL 332 rows · May 2025
Read with Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV ($2 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Columbia, MO
Where Columbia, MO already employs the upper wage tier
Financial Managers and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Columbia, MO's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 660 jobs · $124,120
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 530 jobs · $111,760
- 3. Lawyers 400 jobs · $107,890
- 4. Education Administrators, Postsecondary 390 jobs · $117,570
- 5. Computer and Information Systems Managers 340 jobs · $129,700
- 6. Nurse Practitioners 330 jobs · $128,930
- 7. Managers, All Other 330 jobs · $123,150
- 8. Pharmacists 280 jobs · $139,430
- 9. Marketing Managers 210 jobs · $119,520
- 10. Physicians, All Other 190 jobs · $312,080
- 11. Administrative Services Managers 190 jobs · $105,640
- 12. Human Resources Managers 150 jobs · $130,190
- 13. Construction Managers 150 jobs · $106,210
- 14. Physician Assistants 140 jobs · $132,220
- 15. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 130 jobs · $120,590
- 16. Nurse Anesthetists 90 jobs · $310,170
- 17. Chief Executives 90 jobs · $159,890
- 18. Computer Network Architects 80 jobs · $111,310
Occupations Tracked
336
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$59,203
employment-weighted, 332 complete rows
Top Salary
$312,080
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
89.4
11% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Columbia, MO, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Managers | $124,120 |
| 2 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $111,760 |
| 3 | Lawyers | $107,890 |
| 4 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $117,570 |
| 5 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $129,700 |
| 6 | Nurse Practitioners | $128,930 |
| 7 | Managers, All Other | $123,150 |
| 8 | Pharmacists | $139,430 |
| 9 | Marketing Managers | $119,520 |
| 10 | Physicians, All Other | $312,080 |
| 11 | Administrative Services Managers | $105,640 |
| 12 | Human Resources Managers | $130,190 |
| 13 | Construction Managers | $106,210 |
| 14 | Physician Assistants | $132,220 |
| 15 | Business Teachers, Postsecondary | $120,590 |
| 16 | Nurse Anesthetists | $310,170 |
| 17 | Chief Executives | $159,890 |
| 18 | Computer Network Architects | $111,310 |
| 19 | Industrial Production Managers | $107,880 |
| 20 | Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $105,640 |
| 21 | Dentists, General | $207,450 |
| 22 | Engineers, All Other | $104,760 |
| 23 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $140,040 |
| 24 | Natural Sciences Managers | $126,440 |
| 25 | Physics Teachers, Postsecondary | $106,680 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Columbia, MO
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $28,600 |
| Bartenders | $28,600 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $28,600 |
| Childcare Workers | $29,070 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $29,110 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $29,130 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $29,250 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $29,390 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $29,710 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $29,860 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in MO
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside MO. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($59,203 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.