Dental Assistants in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,250
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,430
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,385
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
$46,680
Kept after tax
$38,250
Worth in national money
$42,385
State rank
35
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays dental assistants a middle wage of $46,680, 35 of 50 states and about 2.89% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 339 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $46,680 the take-home is $38,250; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,385 would nationally. The average comes to $47,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana's $46,680 median for dental assistants places it 35 of 50 states, about 2.89% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Dental assistants ranks 339 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.
- Post-tax income for dental assistants in Montana, on $46,680, is $38,250 — equivalent to $42,385 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $47,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,900 |
| This salary | $46,680 |
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 | $38,250 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,687 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,544 |
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 | $44,891 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,867 |
| 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 dental assistants in Montana earn under $46,680 and half over. The published range runs $37,340 at the tenth percentile to $57,900 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,250 take-home in Montana comes from $46,680. 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 339 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,385, the adjusted value of that $46,680 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 339 of 475 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for dental assistants in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,340 to $57,900; 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.
- Retained pay of $38,250, from $46,680, 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 339 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $42,385 — the adjusted value of that $46,680 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 339 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,340 at the bottom tenth to $57,900 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Montana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,385 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $38,250 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,340 to $57,900) 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 $42,385 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 $38,250 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.