Architectural and Civil Drafters in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,656
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$13,094
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,349
Montana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Montana — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$65,750
Kept after tax
$52,656
Worth in national money
$58,349
State rank
17
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Montana pays this job around $65,750 at the midpoint, 17 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 163 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $65,750 the take-home is $52,656; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $58,349 would nationally. The average comes to $67,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For architectural and civil drafters the Montana median is $65,750, ranking 17 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Architectural and civil drafters ranks 163 of 475 occupations in Montana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for architectural and civil drafters in Montana, on $65,750, is $52,656 — equivalent to $58,349 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $67,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,480 |
| This salary | $65,750 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Montana | $52,656 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,010 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,739 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $62,820 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,296 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Montana earn less than $65,750. The published range is $48,810 up to $84,480, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $52,656, from $65,750, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 163 of 475 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $58,349, the adjusted value of that $65,750 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 163 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for architectural and civil drafters in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,810 to $84,480. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,656 from $65,750. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 163 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $58,349 — the adjusted value of that $65,750 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 163 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $48,810 at the tenth percentile, $84,480 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Montana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $58,349 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Montana's own levy, $52,656 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,810 to $84,480) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Montana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Montana's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $58,349 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $52,656 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Montana income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.