Engineers, All Other in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,254
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$24,216
24.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,173
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
$97,470
Kept after tax
$73,254
Worth in national money
$81,173
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays engineers, all other a middle wage of $97,470, 47 of 51 states and about 20.71% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 54 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $97,470 you keep $73,254 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $81,173 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $99,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana's $97,470 median for engineers, all other places it 47 of 51 states, about 20.71% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within Montana, engineers, all other ranks 54 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.
- Retained pay in Montana is $73,254 after the full tax stack, from $97,470. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $81,173 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $99,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Engineers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,990 |
| This salary | $97,470 |
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 | $73,254 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,523 |
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 | $91,576 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,104 |
| 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 $97,470. The published range is $62,100 up to $136,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $73,254 take-home in Montana comes from $97,470. 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 54 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $81,173 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 54.
- Reported values are medians; for engineers, all other in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,100 to $136,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $73,254, from $97,470, 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 54 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $81,173, worked from $97,470, 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 54 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,100, the highest tenth $136,990, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $81,173 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $73,254 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,100) and the ninetieth ($136,990) 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 $81,173 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 $73,254 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.