Driver/Sales Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,783
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$3,797
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,354
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
$27,580
Kept after tax
$23,783
Worth in national money
$26,354
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for driver/sales workers is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $27,580. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 28.86% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, driver/sales workers lands at 470. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $27,580 the take-home is $23,783; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $26,354 would nationally. The average comes to $35,780, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For driver/sales workers, Montana sits in the lower band at $27,580, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 28.86%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 470 of 475 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for driver/sales workers in Montana, on $27,580, is $23,783 — equivalent to $26,354 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 $35,780 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,690 |
| This salary | $27,580 |
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 | $23,783 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,322 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,324 |
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 | $26,925 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,579 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Montana earn less than $27,580. The published range is $22,060 up to $58,690, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $23,783, from $27,580, 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 470 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 $26,354, the adjusted value of that $27,580 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 470 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for driver/sales workers in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,060 to $58,690. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $23,783 from $27,580. 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 470 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $26,354 — the adjusted value of that $27,580 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 470 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $35,780, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,060 at the bottom tenth to $58,690 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 $26,354.
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 $23,783 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $35,780. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,060) and the ninetieth ($58,690) 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 $26,354 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 $23,783 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.