What do you need to know to hire in Missouri?
A low-rate bracketed state income tax, a $15 minimum above the federal floor, and final pay due on the day of discharge. Each Missouri guide below takes one layer of state rule.
· Missouri, United States guide
Illustration · Jefferson City, Missouri
Missouri runs a low-rate bracketed state income tax, so payroll carries a state withholding step Texas never has. The minimum wage sits above the federal floor at $15, and final pay is due the day you discharge someone.
The federal floor is identical to every other state: FLSA, FICA, FUTA and FMLA set the baseline. Everything Missouri adds on top is what these guides cover.
Most employers budget the state unemployment tax and miss that a discharged worker's wages fall due on the day of discharge, 0 days later. This page is the map; each guide is the detail.
What do you need to know to hire in Missouri?
Missouri sits on the federal employment floor and adds three state layers an employer has to get right: a low-rate bracketed state income tax to withhold, a minimum wage above the federal floor at $15, and a same-day final-pay rule on a discharge.
Overtime stays on the 40-hour federal week at 1.5 times pay, and there's no state sick-leave programme since the Proposition A mandate was repealed. Each guide below takes one of those layers.
Sienna runs payroll for a 12-person team and just approved her first Missouri hire. The federal stack she already knows still applies: Social Security and Medicare on every paycheck, FUTA, and FMLA once the company passes 50 employees. Missouri layers a state income-tax withholding, its own unemployment tax, a minimum wage above the federal floor, and a same-day final-pay deadline on top.
Start from the United States overview for the federal baseline. This page is the Missouri-specific layer, and the four guides below break it into the questions an employer actually asks before a first hire.
What does an employer actually pay in Missouri?
The Missouri-specific cost is a low-rate bracketed state income tax to withhold, the state unemployment tax, and the federal pass-through. There's no state-mandated benefit beyond the federal floor.
The minimum wage is $15 an hour, above the federal floor, with $7.50 cash for tipped roles. Overtime starts after 40 hours a week at 1.5 times the regular rate.
State income tax: a low-rate bracketed tax, withheld at the state level, with the top rate stepping down each year. The rate and brackets sit in the tax guide. Minimum wage: $15 an hour, above the federal floor, with $7.50 cash for tipped roles plus a top-up to the full minimum. Overtime: 1.5 times pay after 40 hours a week, no daily rule, no mandated meal break.
Unemployment insurance: a state tax on a low taxable wage base, with a set new-employer rate and an experience-rated range above it. Final pay: a discharged worker's wages are due on the day of discharge, 0 days later, with a resignation paid by the next regular payday.
Sources: Missouri Department of Labor, minimum wage, Missouri Department of Revenue, income-tax year changes and US DOL state minimum wage.
The figures above are the headline. The detail, from the bracket table and withholding setup to the SUTA wage base, the new-employer rate, and the tip-credit math, sits in the Missouri tax and unemployment guide and the wage and overtime guide.
The Missouri guides, one layer at a time
Four Missouri guides are live, one per layer of state rule. Each answers the questions an employer asks before the first hire, with the statutory numbers pulled from the same Missouri source set.
State income tax & unemployment insurance
The bracketed income-tax rate and withholding, the SUTA wage base, the new-employer and experience rates, and the quarterly filing rhythm.
Wage, overtime & meal break law
The $15 minimum above the federal floor, the 40-hour overtime week, the tip credit, and why Missouri mandates no meal break.
Paid family & sick leave
Why Missouri has no state sick-leave programme after the Proposition A repeal, what federal FMLA covers at 50+ employees, and the pregnancy accommodation rules that still apply.
Termination & at-will exceptions
The Whistleblower's Protection Act exception, final pay due on the day of discharge, and the federal WARN math on a mass layoff.
The Missouri worker-classification guide, the state's test for employee versus contractor, is the next one we're building. Need it sooner? Tell us and we'll move it up the queue.
How does Missouri compare to its neighbours?
Missouri is a low-rate income-tax, above-federal-wage state with a sharp same-day final-pay rule. Each neighbour breaks the pattern somewhere. The federal floor is identical; the state layer is not.
Cross a state line and the math changes. Kansas runs its own bracketed income tax and a different unemployment schedule next door. Illinois levies a flat income tax and a higher minimum wage than the $15 Missouri sets. Iowa is moving to a flat rate of its own, and Arkansas sets a state minimum below the Missouri floor.
If you're hiring across the region, read each state's guides before you set payroll. The structure is the same everywhere; the income-tax rate, the SUTA base, the leave mandate, and the final-pay clock are not.
How does Teamed hire in Missouri for you?
Teamed becomes your legal employer of record in Missouri for from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up in any currency. Payroll, the state income-tax withholding, the unemployment registration, the same-day final-pay rule, and the federal stack run on one platform.
There's no setup fee and no exit fee, and statutory employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.
Real HR and legal experts handle your Missouri hires, from the first offer letter to a contested termination. An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue, who knows the Whistleblower's Protection Act line and the same-day final-pay rule under the Missouri wage statute. There's no setup fee and no exit fee, the platform tracks every federal trigger in real time, and statutory employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.
Contractor onboarding, EOR payroll, and entity setup live on one platform. A Missouri contractor who converts to W-2 keeps their record, and that same employee can graduate from EOR to your own US entity without re-onboarding. Run the Crossover Calculator to see the month the model flips. EOR is the right model for a first Missouri hire, until it isn't.
Missouri reads as a middle-of-the-road state: a low income-tax rate, a wage floor above federal, strong at-will. The catch is the final cheque, which falls due the day you discharge someone, and the federal charge that does not care the state is at-will. These guides exist so the first Missouri hire never becomes the first Missouri filing.
Missouri looks like a steady state to hire in. A low income-tax rate, at-will, a wage floor of $15.00 an hour.
The steady part ends at separation. The final cheque is due the day you discharge someone, and a federal claim ignores at-will entirely.
Read the right guide before the first hire, not after the first dispute.
