Dishwashers in Montana

Fresh vegetables and a plated meal at a professional kitchen prep station.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$25,730

after federal, FICA and Montana tax

Tax takes

$4,400

14.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$28,512

Montana costs less than average

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

$30,130

Kept after tax

$25,730

Worth in national money

$28,512

State rank

30

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Neither high nor low. Montana is 30 of 51 states for dishwashers, with a middle wage of $30,130. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
  • Within Montana this is lower-paid work. Of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, dishwashers ranks 464. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
  • Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $30,130 you keep $25,730, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,512 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,350, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Montana ranks 30 of 51 for dishwashers at $30,130. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
  • Against every occupation Montana reports, dishwashers ranks 464 of 475, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
  • After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for dishwashers on $30,130 is $25,730. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,512 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 $31,350 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Dishwashers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$22,580
Half earn under$30,130
Top tenth earn over$38,550
This salary$30,130

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

Compare with
+$659take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Montana$25,730
Take-home in Texas$26,389
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,355

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

Moving to
$0$31,769
$31,769in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$29,309
Raise you would need+$1,639
Prices in Texas97 vs 90

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $30,130 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,580 and the ninetieth is $38,550 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
  • In Montana the take-home figure of $25,730, from $30,130, 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 464 of 475 occupations here.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,512, the adjusted value of that $30,130 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 464 of 475 in the state.
  • The Montana median of $30,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,580 to $38,550. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
  • Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $25,730 from $30,130. 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 464 of 475 locally.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $28,512 — the adjusted value of that $30,130 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 464 of 475 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $31,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

The range here is narrow. From $22,580 at the bottom tenth to $38,550 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 $28,512 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 $25,730.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

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 $31,350. 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 ($22,580 to $38,550) 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 $28,512 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 $25,730 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.