First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,020
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$21,360
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,373
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
$89,380
Kept after tax
$68,020
Worth in national money
$75,373
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $89,380, ranking 38 of 51 states — about 15.71% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 475 occupations Montana reports, this job comes in at 69 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $89,380 you keep $68,020, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $75,373 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $93,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 38 of 51 for first-line supervisors of police and detectives, with a median of $89,380 — about 15.71% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- First-line supervisors of police and detectives ranks 69 of 475 occupations by median in Montana, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for first-line supervisors of police and detectives on $89,380 is $68,020. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $75,373 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 $93,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $89,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,540 |
| This salary | $89,380 |
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 | $68,020 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,709 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,580 |
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 | $84,136 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,182 |
| 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 $89,380. The published range is $68,050 up to $128,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $68,020 take-home in Montana comes from $89,380. 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 69 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $75,373, the adjusted value of that $89,380 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 69 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for first-line supervisors of police and detectives in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $68,050 to $128,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $68,020, from $89,380, 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 69 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $75,373 — the adjusted value of that $89,380 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 69 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 $93,560, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $68,050 and the top tenth $128,540, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $75,373.
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, $68,020 remains.
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.
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 $93,560. 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 ($68,050 to $128,540) 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 $75,373 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 $68,020 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.