First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,016
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,354
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,125
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
$46,370
Kept after tax
$38,016
Worth in national money
$42,125
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays this job a middle wage of $46,370, 48 of 51 states and about 17.11% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 343.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,370 you keep $38,016, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,125 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana's $46,370 median for first-line supervisors of security workers places it 48 of 51 states, about 17.11% 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.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, first-line supervisors of security workers sits at 343 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for first-line supervisors of security workers on $46,370 is $38,016. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,125 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 $57,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,960 |
| This salary | $46,370 |
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 | $38,016 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,438 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,541 |
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 | $44,599 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,863 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,370 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,890 and the ninetieth is $99,960 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $38,016 take-home in Montana comes from $46,370. 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 343 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,125, the adjusted value of that $46,370 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 343 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $46,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,890 to $99,960. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $38,016, from $46,370, 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 343 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $42,125 — the adjusted value of that $46,370 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 343 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 $57,620, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,890 at the bottom tenth to $99,960 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 $42,125.
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, $38,016 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $57,620. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($35,890) and the ninetieth ($99,960) 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 $42,125 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 $38,016 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.