Court, Municipal, and License Clerks in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,494
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,186
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,547
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
$45,680
Kept after tax
$37,494
Worth in national money
$41,547
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for court, municipal, and license clerks. The middle earner takes $45,680, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 6.2% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 350 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 $45,680 you keep $37,494 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,547 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $45,840, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana ranks 36 of 51 for court, municipal, and license clerks, with a median of $45,680 — about 6.2% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Court, municipal, and license clerks ranks 350 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 $37,494 after the full tax stack, from $45,680. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,547 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,840 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,090 |
| This salary | $45,680 |
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 | $37,494 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,884 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,533 |
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 | $43,950 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,854 |
| 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 court, municipal, and license clerks in Montana earn under $45,680 and half over. The published range runs $37,030 at the tenth percentile to $60,090 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $37,494, from $45,680, 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 350 of 475 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,547, the adjusted value of that $45,680 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 350 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for court, municipal, and license clerks in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,030 to $60,090; 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.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,494 from $45,680. 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 350 of 475 locally.
- This $41,547 adjusted figure, worked from $45,680, 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 350 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 350 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,030 and the top tenth $60,090, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $41,547 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 $37,494.
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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,030 to $60,090) 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 $41,547 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 $37,494 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.