Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,706
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$11,474
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,864
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
$59,180
Kept after tax
$47,706
Worth in national money
$52,864
State rank
12
of 50 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 $59,180, ranking 12 of 50 states and sitting about 9.17% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 221 among 475 occupations Montana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,180 you keep $47,706 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,864 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $56,800.
- Montana's median for eligibility interviewers, government programs is $59,180, about 9.17% above the national figure and 12 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 221 of 475 in Montana places eligibility interviewers, government programs in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Montana is $47,706 after the full tax stack, from $59,180. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,864 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $56,800 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,230 |
| This salary | $59,180 |
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 | $47,706 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,731 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,687 |
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 | $56,660 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,040 |
| 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 eligibility interviewers, government programs in Montana earn under $59,180 and half over. The published range runs $42,520 at the tenth percentile to $61,230 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,706 take-home in Montana comes from $59,180. 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 221 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,864 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 221.
- Figures are distribution medians for eligibility interviewers, government programs in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,520 to $61,230; 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 $47,706, from $59,180, 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 221 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,864, worked from $59,180, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Montana address, on work sitting at 221 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 $56,800, 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 — $42,520 at the tenth percentile, $61,230 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,864 in national terms.
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 $47,706 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $56,800. 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 ($42,520 to $61,230) 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 $52,864 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 $47,706 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.