First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in Montana

A bright independent shop with household goods on wooden shelves.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$40,232

after federal, FICA and Montana tax

Tax takes

$9,068

18.4% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$44,582

Montana costs less than average

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

$49,300

Kept after tax

$40,232

Worth in national money

$44,582

State rank

20

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Montana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $49,300, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 294.
  • Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,300 you keep $40,232 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,582 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $53,880, since top earners drag the number up.
  • Montana occupies the middle band for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers: a median of $49,300, ranking 20 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
  • In Montana's occupational distribution, first-line supervisors of retail sales workers sits at 294 of 475 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
  • Retained pay in Montana is $40,232 after the full tax stack, from $49,300. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,582 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $53,880 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.

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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$35,360
Half earn under$49,300
Top tenth earn over$77,320
This salary$49,300

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

Compare with
+$1,560take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Montana$40,232
Take-home in Texas$41,793
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,574

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

Moving to
$0$51,204
$51,204in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$47,358
Raise you would need+$1,904
Prices in Texas97 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 $49,300. The published range is $35,360 up to $77,320, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $40,232, worked from $49,300. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 294 of 475.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,582, the adjusted value of that $49,300 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 294 of 475 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,360 to $77,320. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • The Montana take-home of $40,232, on $49,300 for work ranking 294 of 475 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 294 of 475 in the state.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $44,582 — the adjusted value of that $49,300 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 294 of 475 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $53,880 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

The label is broader than the work. From $35,360 at the bottom tenth to $77,320 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.

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 $44,582.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Montana then takes its own share, leaving $40,232.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

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 $53,880. 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 ($35,360) and the ninetieth ($77,320) 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 $44,582 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 $40,232 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.