Communications Teachers, Postsecondary in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,728
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$17,382
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,293
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
$78,110
Kept after tax
$60,728
Worth in national money
$67,293
State rank
19
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Montana pays this job around $78,110 at the midpoint, 19 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Montana this is well-paid work. Of 475 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 112 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $78,110 you keep $60,728, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,293 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $90,900, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For communications teachers, postsecondary the Montana median is $78,110, ranking 19 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Montana publishes a median for, communications teachers, postsecondary sits 112 of 475 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for communications teachers, postsecondary on $78,110 is $60,728. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,293 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $90,900 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,670 |
| This salary | $78,110 |
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 | $60,728 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,780 |
| 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 | $73,771 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,291 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,110 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,110 and the ninetieth is $131,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,728 take-home in Montana comes from $78,110. 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 112 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,293 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 112.
- The Montana median of $78,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,110 to $131,670. 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 $60,728, from $78,110, 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 112 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,293, worked from $78,110, 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 112 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $90,900, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $50,110 and the top tenth $131,670 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $67,293 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Montana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,728 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $90,900. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($50,110) and the ninetieth ($131,670) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $67,293 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 $60,728 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.