What payroll taxes does a Missouri employer pay?

A Missouri employer pays the employer half of FICA — 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare — plus federal FUTA at an effective 0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages, and Missouri state unemployment insurance (SUI) on the first $10,000 of wages at the employer's experience rate.

What is the Missouri SUI wage base and rate?

Missouri's unemployment insurance taxable wage base is $10,000 per employee per year. New employers typically pay a standard rate around 2.376%, while established employers receive an experience rate that can be lower or higher based on their layoff history.

What is FUTA and how much is it?

FUTA is the Federal Unemployment Tax. The gross rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages, but employers in states with no credit reduction receive a 5.4% credit, making the effective rate 0.6%, or $42 per employee per year at the cap.

Does Missouri have an employer disability or paid-leave tax?

No. Missouri does not impose an employer-side state disability insurance (SDI) or paid family and medical leave (PFML) payroll tax. The employer payroll taxes are limited to FICA, FUTA, and Missouri SUI.

What is fully loaded labor cost?

Fully loaded labor cost is the employee's wages plus all employer payroll taxes (and, in fuller models, benefits). This tool adds the employer's FICA, FUTA, and SUI to wages so you can budget the real cost of an employee beyond their salary.

Missouri Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

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The Missouri Employer Payroll Tax Calculator totals the taxes you owe as an employer for each Missouri worker. On top of wages you pay the employer half of FICA (6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare), federal FUTA at an effective 0.6%, and Missouri SUI on the first $10,000 of wages.

How it works

Each tax has its own wage base, so the burden flattens as wages rise:

social security = min(wages, $168,600) x 6.2%
medicare        = wages x 1.45%
FUTA            = min(wages, $7,000) x 0.6%
MO SUI          = min(wages, $10,000) x your experience rate

total employer tax = SS + Medicare + FUTA + SUI
fully loaded cost  = wages + total employer tax

FUTA and SUI cap out quickly — at $42 and a few hundred dollars respectively — so for higher salaries the employer burden is dominated by Social Security and Medicare.

Example and notes

A $50,000 employee at the new-employer SUI rate of 2.376%:

social security: 50,000 x 6.2% = $3,100
medicare: 50,000 x 1.45% = $725
FUTA: 7,000 x 0.6% = $42
MO SUI: 10,000 x 2.376% = $237.60
total: ~$4,105  (about 8.2% on top of wages)

FUTA assumes the full 5.4% state credit (net 0.6%); credit-reduction states differ.
Your real SUI rate is assigned by Missouri based on your experience.
Missouri has no employer SDI or PFML tax.
Estimate only — runs entirely in your browser.