Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,041
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,109
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,396
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
$37,150
Kept after tax
$31,041
Worth in national money
$34,396
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $37,150, ranking 26 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Montana, this one sits low: 429 of 475 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,150 you keep $31,041, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,396 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for cooks, institution and cafeteria: a median of $37,150, ranking 26 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Cooks, institution and cafeteria occupies position 429 of 475 in Montana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for cooks, institution and cafeteria on $37,150 is $31,041. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,396 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 $38,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,600 |
| This salary | $37,150 |
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 | $31,041 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,030 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,435 |
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 | $35,919 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,736 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,150 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,500 and the ninetieth is $50,600 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $31,041, worked from $37,150. 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 429 of 475.
- Two cautions on $34,396, the adjusted value of that $37,150 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 429 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $37,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,500 to $50,600. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Montana take-home of $31,041, on $37,150 for work ranking 429 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 429 of 475 in the state.
- This $34,396 adjusted figure, worked from $37,150, 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 429 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 429 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 $38,950, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $30,500 at the bottom tenth to $50,600 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 $34,396 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 $31,041 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $38,950. 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 ($30,500 to $50,600) 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 $34,396 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 $31,041 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.