Architectural and Engineering Managers in Montana

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$104,188
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$41,842
28.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$115,451
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
$146,030
Kept after tax
$104,188
Worth in national money
$115,451
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays this job a middle wage of $146,030, 46 of 51 states and about 14.74% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 475 occupations Montana reports, this job comes in at 7 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $146,030 the take-home is $104,188; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $115,451 would nationally. The average comes to $153,170, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana's $146,030 median for architectural and engineering managers places it 46 of 51 states, about 14.74% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Architectural and engineering managers ranks 7 of 475 occupations by median in Montana, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for architectural and engineering managers in Montana, on $146,030, is $104,188 — equivalent to $115,451 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 $153,170 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Architectural and Engineering Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $105,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $146,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $204,300 |
| This salary | $146,030 |
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 | $104,188 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $111,078 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,144 |
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 | $135,950 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,627 |
| 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 $146,030. The published range is $105,270 up to $204,300, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $104,188, from $146,030, 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 7 of 475 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $115,451 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 7.
- Reported values are medians; for architectural and engineering managers in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $105,270 to $204,300. 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 $104,188 from $146,030. 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 7 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $115,451, worked from $146,030, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Montana address, on work sitting at 7 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $153,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $105,270 at the tenth percentile, $204,300 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $115,451.
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, $104,188 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Montana is $153,170. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($105,270 to $204,300) 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 $115,451 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 $104,188 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.