What Buyers and Purchasing Agents earn in Lincoln County, MO
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $73,280: the median annual pay for Buyers and Purchasing Agents in Lincoln County, MO. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $35.23 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $79,320, which is 8.2% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 4,600 people working in this occupation across the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Lincoln County, MO has roughly 63,057 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Buyers and Purchasing Agents in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $49,170 a year ($23.64 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $118,850 or more ($57.14 an hour). That is a gap of $69,680 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $60,390 at the 25th percentile and $94,010 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $35.23 an hour or $73,280 a year at the median for Lincoln County, MO. Before any deductions, that is $6,107 a month, $2,818 every two weeks and $1,409 each week. After taxes the same job pays $27.66 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Buyers and Purchasing Agents
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products this way: "Purchase farm products either for further processing or resale. Includes tree farm contractors, grain brokers and market operators, grain buyers, and tobacco buyers. May negotiate contracts."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Purchase, for further processing or for resale, farm products, such as milk, grains, or Christmas trees"; "Negotiate contracts with farmers for the production or purchase of farm products"; "Arrange for processing or resale of purchased products"; "Arrange for transportation or storage of purchased products".
This BLS pay category covers several related O*NET occupations, among them Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products, Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products, Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products, so the wage figures describe the group as a whole.
Job outlook for Buyers and Purchasing Agents
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 516,100 jobs in 2025 to 547,000 in 2035, a change of +6%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 47,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.1% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $77,710 for this occupation; the Lincoln County, MO median of $73,280 is 5.7% below it.
How pay in Lincoln County, MO compares
Compared with the Missouri average
A worker in this occupation in Lincoln County, MO earns $2,293 more than the Missouri average of $70,987, a premium of 3.2%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,293 before tax and roughly $1,800 after tax. Within Missouri, the highest median we track for this job is $74,740 in Jackson County, MO.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Buyers and Purchasing Agents is $78,148 across the contiguous United States. At $73,280, Lincoln County, MO pays $4,868 less, which is 6.2% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Lincoln County, MO
Among the 578 occupations with published wages in Lincoln County, MO, Buyers and Purchasing Agents ranks number 184 by median pay, ahead of about 68% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $167,130 a year, which is $93,850 more than the median for Buyers and Purchasing Agents.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Buyers and Purchasing Agents earning the Lincoln County, MO median of $73,280, they add up to $15,740. The result is $57,540 of take-home pay a year ($4,795 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $21 goes to taxes and $79 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 21.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $57,530. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $7,571, an effective 10.3% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,543 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,063. FICA totals $5,606, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Missouri
Missouri income tax on this salary is $2,563 a year, or 3.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 34% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $214 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Lincoln County, MO
IRS Statistics of Income data for Lincoln County, MO show an average adjusted gross income of $75,175 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.6% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.9%, compared with the 10.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Lincoln County, MO
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Lincoln County, MO: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $57,540 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Lincoln County, MO, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,104 a month ($13,248 a year), and at $1,349 for two bedrooms. For Buyers and Purchasing Agents, a one-bedroom absorbs 23.0% of take-home pay and 18.1% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.7% of gross pay for Buyers and Purchasing Agents in Lincoln County, MO. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Missouri residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,364 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $672, for $2,036 in total. Gasoline in Missouri averages $3.03 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,403.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,123 a year in Lincoln County, MO. Subtract that from $57,540 of take-home pay and $37,418 remains, which is $3,118 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 51.1% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Lincoln County, MO
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Lincoln County, MO: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Lincoln County, MO, set beside the Missouri and national medians.
Property taxes in Lincoln County, MO
Homeowners in Lincoln County, MO pay a median of $1,811 a year in real estate taxes, 7% below the Missouri median of $1,948 and 42% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $244,300, the median tax bill is 0.74% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Buyers and Purchasing Agents median of $73,280, a tax bill of that size would equal 2.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Lincoln County, MO
Renters in Lincoln County, MO pay a median gross rent of $961 a month in the Census survey, 7% below the Missouri median of $1,033. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,104 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $244,300, 6% above the Missouri median of $230,300. Median household income is $89,278, 26% above the Missouri median of $70,702, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 14.8% of that income.
Commuting in Lincoln County, MO
Workers in Lincoln County, MO who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.8 minutes each way, 35% above the Missouri average of 23.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 8.3% of workers in Lincoln County, MO work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Buyers and Purchasing Agents afford to live in Lincoln County, MO?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $73,280 that ceiling is $1,832 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,104 is $728 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.23 an hour; the median for Buyers and Purchasing Agents is $35.23, which is 66% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $27.66 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 9.2 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,349 a month means $675 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,154 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $42,572.
How fast you can save
At $3,118 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Buyers and Purchasing Agents pay in Lincoln County, MO
How much do Buyers and Purchasing Agents make per hour in Lincoln County, MO?
The median is $35.23 per hour, based on $73,280 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $23.64 at the 10th percentile to $57.14 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Buyers and Purchasing Agents take home after taxes in Lincoln County, MO?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $73,280 becomes $57,540 a year. That is $4,795 a month, $2,213 every two weeks or $1,107 a week.
How much tax do Buyers and Purchasing Agents pay in Lincoln County, MO?
Total taxes are $15,740 a year, an effective rate of 21.5%: $7,571 federal income tax, $5,606 FICA and $2,563 Missouri income tax.
Do Buyers and Purchasing Agents earn more in Lincoln County, MO than elsewhere in Missouri?
Yes. The local median of $73,280 is +3.2% versus the Missouri average of $70,987, a difference of $2,293 a year.
Can Buyers and Purchasing Agents afford a one-bedroom apartment in Lincoln County, MO?
A one-bedroom costs $1,104 a month against take-home pay of $4,795, which is 23.0% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,832 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Buyers and Purchasing Agents in Lincoln County, MO?
About $3,118 a month ($37,418 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,123 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Lincoln County, MO at the 30% guideline?
$21.23 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,248 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Buyers and Purchasing Agents is $35.23.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Missouri rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.