Radiologic Technologist Salary in Missouri 2026,
$73,080 Median | BLS Data by City

Missouri radiologic technologists earn a median $73,080 a year, $35.14 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $63,090 and $80,770 and a full range of $50,810 to $97,150. That is 8.8% below the $80,110 national median.

No. Missouri is one of a small number of states that does not license radiologic technologists — there is no state credential, no state examination and no title protection, despite the role involving ionising radiation. Practice is governed instead by employer requirements and by radiation safety rules attaching to the facility and its equipment rather than to the individual operator.

Kansas City at $78,340, then St. Louis at $76,390, St. Joseph at $73,080, Jefferson City at $72,740 and Joplin at $71,970. The metro premium is only about five thousand dollars over the state median, and both big cities levy a 1% earnings tax on work performed inside the city.

The state does not require it, but employers effectively do. With no Missouri licence in existence, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists certification is the credential hospitals and imaging centres screen on, and modality-specific credentials are required for computed tomography, mammography and interventional work. In practice ARRT certification is the entry standard even though nothing in Missouri law says so.

Missouri's graduated income tax tops out at 4.8%, relatively favourable at this income. Kansas City and St. Louis each levy a 1% earnings tax on anyone working inside the city, which erodes a metro premium already limited to about five thousand dollars over the state median.

Because the licence is not what sets the price — supply and cost of living are. Colorado employs fewer technologists per worker than the national average in a high-cost state with concentrated imaging volume; Missouri employs nearly a fifth more per worker in a low-cost state with imaging spread across many small hospitals. Neither has a state credential, and the outcomes diverge entirely on market conditions. What the missing licence does in both is remove any state oversight of the individual practitioner.

The band mixes general radiographers with technologists certified in computed tomography, mammography, interventional radiology and other advanced modalities, and most of the $50,810 to $97,150 range is that mix rather than progression through seniority. The figure also includes overnight, weekend and on-call differentials that are a significant part of hospital imaging pay and that come attached to a demanding schedule the annual number cannot show.

Modality, almost exclusively. With the metro spread limited to about six thousand dollars and no licence tier to climb, cross-training into computed tomography is the most reliable single step, followed by mammography, interventional radiology and advanced cardiac imaging — each with its own ARRT credential. After that, the academic centres in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia pay above community hospitals and outpatient imaging, and lead technologist, modality supervisor and clinical instructor roles plus overnight differentials are what reach the $80,770 seventy-fifth percentile and the $97,150 ninetieth.