Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,643
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$28,247
25.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$89,361
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
$108,890
Kept after tax
$80,643
Worth in national money
$89,361
State rank
15
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Montana pays atmospheric and space scientists a middle wage of $108,890, ranking 15 of 47 states and sitting about 9.91% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 475 occupations Montana reports, atmospheric and space scientists comes in at 24 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $108,890 you keep $80,643 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $89,361 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $102,700.
- Montana's median for atmospheric and space scientists is $108,890, about 9.91% above the national figure and 15 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Atmospheric and space scientists ranks 24 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.
- Retained pay in Montana is $80,643 after the full tax stack, from $108,890. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $89,361 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $102,700 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $108,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,990 |
| This salary | $108,890 |
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 | $80,643 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $85,434 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,443 |
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 | $102,079 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,993 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of atmospheric and space scientists in Montana earn under $108,890 and half over. The published range runs $61,110 at the tenth percentile to $136,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $80,643 take-home in Montana comes from $108,890. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 24 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $89,361 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 24.
- Figures are distribution medians for atmospheric and space scientists in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,110 to $136,990; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $80,643, from $108,890, assumes a single Montana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 24 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $89,361, worked from $108,890, 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 24 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $102,700 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $61,110 at the bottom tenth to $136,990 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $89,361 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, $80,643 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $102,700. 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 ($61,110 to $136,990) 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 $89,361 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 $80,643 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.