English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,525
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$15,635
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,744
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
$73,160
Kept after tax
$57,525
Worth in national money
$63,744
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 27 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $73,160. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 144 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $73,160 you keep $57,525 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $63,744 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $77,540, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana ranks 27 of 49 for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary at $73,160. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- English language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 144 of 475 occupations in Montana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Montana is $57,525 after the full tax stack, from $73,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,744 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $77,540 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $116,850 |
| This salary | $73,160 |
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 | $57,525 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,298 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,693 |
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 | $69,219 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,339 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $73,160 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,710 and the ninetieth is $116,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $57,525, from $73,160, 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 144 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 $63,744, the adjusted value of that $73,160 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 144 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $73,160 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,710 to $116,850. 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 $57,525 from $73,160. 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 144 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $63,744 — the adjusted value of that $73,160 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 144 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 $77,540, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $48,710, the highest tenth $116,850, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $63,744.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Montana's own levy, $57,525 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $77,540. 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 ($48,710) and the ninetieth ($116,850) 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 $63,744 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 $57,525 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.