Biological Scientists, All Other in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,430
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$22,130
24.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,936
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
$91,560
Kept after tax
$69,430
Worth in national money
$76,936
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for biological scientists, all other. The median is $91,560, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 475 occupations Montana reports, biological scientists, all other comes in at 64 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $91,560 the take-home is $69,430; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $76,936 would nationally. The average lands at $88,810, below the middle of the range.
- Montana occupies the middle band for biological scientists, all other: a median of $91,560, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Biological scientists, all other ranks 64 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 biological scientists, all other in Montana, on $91,560, is $69,430 — equivalent to $76,936 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 $88,810 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Biological Scientists, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $113,610 |
| This salary | $91,560 |
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 | $69,430 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,242 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,564 |
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 | $86,141 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,161 |
| 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 biological scientists, all other in Montana earn under $91,560 and half over. The published range runs $60,830 at the tenth percentile to $113,610 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $69,430, worked from $91,560. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 64 of 475.
- Two cautions on $76,936, the adjusted value of that $91,560 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Montana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 64 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for biological scientists, all other in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,830 to $113,610; 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.
- The Montana take-home of $69,430, on $91,560 for work ranking 64 of 475 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 64 of 475 in the state.
- This $76,936 adjusted figure, worked from $91,560, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 64 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 64 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 $88,810 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $60,830 and the top tenth $113,610, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $76,936.
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, $69,430 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.
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 $88,810. 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 ($60,830 to $113,610) 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 $76,936 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 $69,430 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.