Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,980
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$22,430
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,545
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
$92,410
Kept after tax
$69,980
Worth in national money
$77,545
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 20 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $92,410. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 63 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $92,410 the take-home is $69,980; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $77,545 would nationally. The average comes to $93,800, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana ranks 20 of 51 for detectives and criminal investigators at $92,410. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Montana, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 63 of 475 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for detectives and criminal investigators in Montana, on $92,410, is $69,980 — equivalent to $77,545 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 $93,800 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $144,000 |
| This salary | $92,410 |
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 | $69,980 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,840 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,558 |
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 | $86,923 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,153 |
| 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 detectives and criminal investigators in Montana earn under $92,410 and half over. The published range runs $58,670 at the tenth percentile to $144,000 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $69,980 take-home in Montana comes from $92,410. 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 63 of 475.
- Two cautions on $77,545, the adjusted value of that $92,410 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 63 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for detectives and criminal investigators in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,670 to $144,000; 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 $69,980, from $92,410, 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 63 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- This $77,545 adjusted figure, worked from $92,410, 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 63 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 63 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $58,670, the highest tenth $144,000, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $77,545.
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 $69,980 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($58,670) and the ninetieth ($144,000) 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 $77,545 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 $69,980 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.