First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,775
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$19,045
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,670
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
$82,820
Kept after tax
$63,775
Worth in national money
$70,670
State rank
28
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $82,820, ranking 28 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Montana this is well-paid work. Of 475 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 82 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $82,820 the take-home is $63,775; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $70,670 would nationally. The average comes to $85,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana occupies the middle band for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers: a median of $82,820, ranking 28 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Montana publishes a median for, first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers sits 82 of 475 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers in Montana, on $82,820, is $63,775 — equivalent to $70,670 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 $85,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,000 |
| This salary | $82,820 |
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 | $63,775 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,094 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,626 |
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 | $78,103 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,246 |
| 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 first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers in Montana earn under $82,820 and half over. The published range runs $64,560 at the tenth percentile to $107,000 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $63,775 take-home in Montana comes from $82,820. 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 82 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,670, the adjusted value of that $82,820 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 82 of 475 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $64,560 to $107,000; 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 $63,775, from $82,820, 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 82 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $70,670 — the adjusted value of that $82,820 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 82 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 $85,620, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $64,560 at the bottom tenth to $107,000 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $70,670 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 $63,775 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 $85,620. 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 ($64,560 to $107,000) 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 $70,670 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 $63,775 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.