Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,213
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,487
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,696
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
$38,700
Kept after tax
$32,213
Worth in national money
$35,696
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Montana pays this job a middle wage of $38,700, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 8.49% above the national middle.
- Within Montana this is lower-paid work. Of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 412. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,700 the take-home is $32,213; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,696 would nationally. The average comes to $40,190, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana's median for automotive and watercraft service attendants is $38,700, about 8.49% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Montana reports, automotive and watercraft service attendants ranks 412 of 475, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for automotive and watercraft service attendants in Montana, on $38,700, is $32,213 — equivalent to $35,696 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 $40,190 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,840 |
| This salary | $38,700 |
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 | $32,213 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,275 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,453 |
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 | $37,378 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,757 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,700 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,390 and the ninetieth is $47,840 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $32,213 take-home in Montana comes from $38,700. 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 412 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,696, the adjusted value of that $38,700 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 412 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $38,700 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,390 to $47,840. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $32,213, from $38,700, 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 412 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $35,696 — the adjusted value of that $38,700 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 412 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 $40,190, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,390 and the top tenth $47,840, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,696 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, $32,213 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 $40,190. 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 ($30,390 to $47,840) 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 $35,696 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 $32,213 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.