Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$81,568
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$28,752
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,386
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
$110,320
Kept after tax
$81,568
Worth in national money
$90,386
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Montana pays this job a middle wage of $110,320, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 15.74% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 21 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $110,320 you keep $81,568, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $90,386 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $103,000, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Montana's median for electrical power-line installers and repairers is $110,320, about 15.74% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Montana, electrical power-line installers and repairers ranks 21 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for electrical power-line installers and repairers on $110,320 is $81,568. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $90,386 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 $103,000 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,010 |
| This salary | $110,320 |
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 | $81,568 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,440 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,433 |
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 | $103,394 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,979 |
| 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 electrical power-line installers and repairers in Montana earn under $110,320 and half over. The published range runs $73,220 at the tenth percentile to $125,010 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $81,568, worked from $110,320. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 21 of 475.
- Two cautions on $90,386, the adjusted value of that $110,320 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 21 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for electrical power-line installers and repairers in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $73,220 to $125,010; 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.
- The Montana take-home of $81,568, on $110,320 for work ranking 21 of 475 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 21 of 475 in the state.
- This $90,386 adjusted figure, worked from $110,320, 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 21 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 21 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $103,000, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $73,220 at the tenth percentile, $125,010 at the ninetieth.
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 $90,386 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $81,568.
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 $103,000. 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 ($73,220 to $125,010) 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 $90,386 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 $81,568 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.