What skilled trades pay in Missouri, where the jobs are and how work is changing, from 37 public government sources. The best-paying trade here is elevator installer at a $126,750 median. For every trade and metro, start from the Missouri pay page.
How Missouri compares
28 of the 41 trades we track in Missouri pay more than in a typical U.S. metro. The biggest premiums are for paving equipment operator (+39%), plasterer (+35%) and hazmat removal worker (+23%), and the biggest gaps for telecom line installer (-11%) and fence installer (-11%). Prices in Missouri's metros run about 12% below the U.S. average, and a typical 1-bedroom rents for $898 a month (U.S. metros: $1,097).
Best-paying trades in Missouri
Statewide median pay, BLS May 2025. The lowest-paying trade we track here is landscaper at $38,520.
Every trade in Missouri
Statewide medians and jobs, BLS OEWS May 2025. “vs. U.S.” compares with the typical U.S. metro median for the trade.
Where the jobs are
- Maintenance Technician: 31,180 jobs
- Landscaper: 18,310 jobs
- Auto Mechanic: 17,210 jobs
- Construction Laborer: 17,050 jobs
- Carpenter: 14,410 jobs
Missouri metros, best pay first
Ranked by how each metro's trade pay compares with all U.S. metros, averaged across trades.
Construction hiring
- St. Louis: +3.9% (70,371 workers)
- Kansas City: +0.3% (40,133 workers)
Change in private construction jobs from a year earlier, 2026 Q1, metros with at least 5,000 construction workers (BLS QCEW).
Unions
9.8% of Missouri workers belong to a union (11.2% are covered by a union contract), compared with about 10% nationally (all jobs, 2025).
Apprenticeships
Registered apprentices in Missouri who finished or left a program in FY2020–2024 completed most often in electrical lineworker (93%), auto mechanic (78%) and landscaper (77%).
Wages and safety
Unpaid wages recovered
Since 2018, the U.S. Labor Department has concluded 245 wage cases against construction employers in Missouri, recovering $3,840,269 in back wages for 1,893 workers.offer check and keep your own record of hours.
DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement data, cases concluded 2018–2025. Counts only; employers aren't named here.
Safety inspections
In 2025, federal OSHA opened 500 inspections of construction worksites in the state. About 18% were set off by a complaint, a referral or an accident (7 after an accident or fatality); the rest were planned spot checks.
OSHA inspection data via the U.S. Department of Labor, construction (NAICS 23), inspections opened in 2025. Counts only.
Storm and disaster rebuild work
Since 2016, the Missouri metros with the most federal major disasters are Cape Girardeau (12), Kansas City (12) and St. Louis (11) (FEMA).
Veterans
Veterans: train on the job with the GI Bill
In Missouri, 417 employers and programs are approved for GI Bill on-the-job training and apprenticeships, across all fields. Veterans in an approved trade apprenticeship can get a monthly housing allowance on top of apprentice pay. Search approved employers with the VA's GI Bill Comparison Tool.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, GI Bill Comparison Tool data, October 2026.
Common questions
What is the highest-paying skilled trade in Missouri?
Elevator Installer pays the most of the trades we track, with a $126,750 statewide median (BLS, May 2025), followed by electrical lineworker and construction supervisor.
Which trade has the most jobs in Missouri?
maintenance technicians, with about 31,180 jobs statewide, followed by landscapers and auto mechanics.
Which Missouri city pays the trades best?
St. Louis, compared with other U.S. metros across the trades we track, followed by St. Joseph.
Is construction hiring growing in Missouri?
In 2026 Q1, private construction jobs were up 3.9% from a year earlier in St. Louis, the fastest-changing large market in the state, and up 0.3% in Kansas City.
Part of the State of Trade Pay 2026 report. Cite as “PayByTrade, State of Trade Pay in Missouri 2026, payby.trade/report/mo/.”