Child, Family, and School Social Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,891
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$10,889
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,852
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
$56,780
Kept after tax
$45,891
Worth in national money
$50,852
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 28 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $56,780. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 252 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $56,780 you keep $45,891 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $50,852 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $54,100.
- Montana ranks 28 of 51 for child, family, and school social workers at $56,780. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Child, family, and school social workers ranks 252 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.
- Retained pay in Montana is $45,891 after the full tax stack, from $56,780. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,852 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,100 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Child, Family, and School Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,000 |
| This salary | $56,780 |
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 | $45,891 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,803 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,659 |
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 | $54,400 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,007 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,780 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,250 and the ninetieth is $72,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $45,891, from $56,780, 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 252 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 $50,852, the adjusted value of that $56,780 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 252 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $56,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,250 to $72,000. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,891 from $56,780. 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 252 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $50,852 — the adjusted value of that $56,780 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 252 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 $54,100 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 $39,250 at the bottom tenth to $72,000 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 $50,852 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Montana then takes its own share, leaving $45,891.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $54,100. 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 ($39,250 to $72,000) 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 $50,852 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 $45,891 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.