Montana income tax, by filing status
Tax year 2026
Tax on a $75,000 salary
$2,877
3.84% of pay, single filer
Against other states
22 of 51
1 takes the most
Top rate
5.65%
on the highest incomes only
Tax-free first
$0
of income, single filer
What filing status changes in Montana
- Good news for couples in Montana: the bands double. All 2 of them are twice as wide on a joint return, so two people together are treated like two people.
- Montana gives head of household its own schedule, sitting between the single and joint tables. If you are raising children alone, filing under the wrong status costs you real money here.
- Montana does not shelter an initial amount the way many states do. The rate applies from the start, married or single.
- Every threshold in Montana's 2-band schedule doubles for joint filers, leaving the effective per-person position unchanged by marriage and the top rate at about 5.65%. This is the treatment the federal schedule uses for most of its range, which is probably why it is widely assumed to be standard at state level. It is not.
- Montana publishes a distinct head-of-household bracket schedule rather than reusing the single table. The thresholds sit between the single and joint schedules, so status selection is consequential — a qualifying filer who defaults to single overpays, and the difference is invisible in any comparison that tabulates single rates only.
- Montana offers no standard deduction against its taxable base. The absence is status-invariant, which removes one of the two mechanisms by which filing status normally alters a state bill — leaving only the bracket schedule, if the state has one that varies.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,877
- Yours$58,716
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.84% | $2,877 |
| Yours78.29% | $58,716 |
Your next $1,000
A $75,000 salary
| Federal, on the next dollar | 22% |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare | 7.65% |
| State, on the next dollar | 5.65% |
| Taken from the next $1,000 | $353 |
Rates shown are federal, Social Security and Medicare, and state. Any local tax is inside the kept amount.
How this state ranks, at this income
A $75,000 salary
| Take-home in Montana | $58,716 |
|---|---|
| Rank once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | 15th of 51 |
| Most take-home at this income | South Dakota · $61,593 |
| Best once prices are leveled | South Dakota |
State income tax only — no city or county income tax is applied to any state here.
Your two tax rates
A $75,000 salary
- Next dollar35.3%
- All your pay21.71%
| On the next dollar | 35.3% |
|---|---|
| Across all your pay | 21.71% |
| The gap | 13.59% |
| Tax this year | $16,284 |
The outer ring shows tax on your next dollar. The inner ring shows tax as a share of all your pay.
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
Montana's ladder
A $75,000 salary
| Rungs in this state | 3 |
|---|---|
| Top rate begins | $63,600 |
Measured on gross pay, so any state standard deduction shows as a 0% first rung.
What filing status is worth
A $75,000 salary
| Single | $58,716 |
|---|---|
| Married filing jointly | $62,611 |
| Married filing separately | $58,716 |
| Head of household | $61,125 |
What each status computes to at this income. Which one you may use depends on your household.
The part never taxed
A $75,000 salary
- Never taxed$16,100
- Taxable$58,900
| Share of your pay | 21.47% |
|---|---|
| Taxable after it | $58,900 |
Federal income tax only. Social Security and Medicare start at the first dollar you earn.
The tax with a ceiling
A $75,000 salary
| Wage base | $184,500 |
|---|---|
| Social Security rate | 6.2% |
| Medicare surtax begins | $200,000 |
Social Security stops at the wage base. Medicare does not, and gains a surtax higher up.
What no income tax costs instead
A $75,000 salary
- Income
- Sales
- Property
| Income tax saved | $2,877 |
|---|---|
| Sales and property added | $1,494 |
| States with none | 9 |
Against the average of the states with no income tax. Stated assumptions: 30% spent taxably, a $300,000 home.
Montana, by when it bites
A $75,000 salary
| 2026-01-01 | Reduced the top marginal individual income tax rate from 5.9% to 5.65% and expanded the lower bracket. |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 | Increased the earned income tax credit to 20% of the federal credit. |
Green moves a tax down, red moves it up, blue changes the structure without a clear direction.
Tax brackets — Single, Married filing separately
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $47,500 | 4.7% |
| Over $47,500 | 5.65% |
Tax brackets — Married filing jointly
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $95,000 | 4.7% |
| Over $95,000 | 5.65% |
Tax brackets — Head of household
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $71,250 | 4.7% |
| Over $71,250 | 5.65% |
What you'd actually owe, by filing status
Same gross income, four filing statuses. The gap between columns is entirely Montana's own schedule and deduction — federal tax and FICA are not included here.
| Gross income | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,593 | $837 | $1,215 | $1,593 |
| $75,000 | $2,877 | $2,012 | $2,390 | $2,877 |
| $100,000 | $4,289 | $3,187 | $3,609 | $4,289 |
Questions people ask
If I earn more, does the higher rate apply to everything?
No. Each band charges only the money inside it, so income is taxed in slices. That is why the share actually leaving at a typical income is about 3.84% rather than the top rate of about 5.65%.
Does getting married change what we owe here?
The schedule simply doubles. Joint thresholds are exactly twice the single ones here, so marrying neither penalizes nor rewards a couple in Montana.
Do two people get twice the allowance?
No. $0 each apart, but $0 together rather than twice that, so some allowance disappears on a joint return.
Is there a different schedule if I am not single or married?
There is. Montana sets separate thresholds beyond single and joint, so the status you file under decides which bands you meet.
How do this state's marginal rates apply across income?
Montana applies each marginal rate only to income within its bracket. The top marginal rate is about 5.65%; measured effective liability at this project's representative income is about 3.84%. Crossing a threshold cannot reduce net income.
How does this state's joint schedule relate to the single schedule?
Montana's joint brackets are exactly twice the single brackets at every threshold, so the schedule is marriage-neutral. Aggregate liability depends only on combined income, not on how it is split between spouses. Federal treatment is separate and not necessarily neutral.
Why does the joint standard deduction not equal twice the single one?
The joint standard deduction of $0 is not twice the single deduction of $0, so the deduction itself contributes a marriage penalty independently of bracket structure.
Which filing statuses carry their own schedule here?
Montana publishes distinct bracket schedules for filing statuses beyond single and married-filing-jointly. Thresholds are set independently rather than derived by scaling, so status selection materially changes liability and cannot be approximated from the single schedule.