Cost Estimators in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,217
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$17,103
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,727
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
$77,320
Kept after tax
$60,217
Worth in national money
$66,727
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 cost estimators, with a middle wage of $77,320. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 475 occupations Montana reports, cost estimators comes in at 116 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $77,320 you keep $60,217, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,727 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $78,490, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 28 of 51 for cost estimators at $77,320. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Cost estimators ranks 116 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for cost estimators on $77,320 is $60,217. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,727 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 $78,490 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,740 |
| This salary | $77,320 |
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 | $60,217 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,225 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,664 |
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 | $73,045 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,299 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,320 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,120 and the ninetieth is $106,740 — 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 $60,217, worked from $77,320. 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 116 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,727, the adjusted value of that $77,320 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 116 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $77,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,120 to $106,740. 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 $60,217, on $77,320 for work ranking 116 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 116 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $66,727 — the adjusted value of that $77,320 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 116 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,120 at the bottom tenth to $106,740 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $66,727.
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, $60,217 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($50,120) and the ninetieth ($106,740) 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 $66,727 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 $60,217 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.