Food Service Managers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,865
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$15,275
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,013
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
$72,140
Kept after tax
$56,865
Worth in national money
$63,013
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for food service managers. The median is $72,140, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 147 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $72,140 you keep $56,865, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,013 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $76,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for food service managers: a median of $72,140, 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.
- Food service managers ranks 147 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for food service managers on $72,140 is $56,865. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,013 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 $76,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,000 |
| This salary | $72,140 |
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 | $56,865 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,580 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,700 |
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 | $68,281 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,349 |
| 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 food service managers in Montana earn under $72,140 and half over. The published range runs $50,730 at the tenth percentile to $105,000 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $56,865 take-home in Montana comes from $72,140. 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 147 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,013, the adjusted value of that $72,140 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 147 of 475 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food service managers in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,730 to $105,000; 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 $56,865, from $72,140, 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 147 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $63,013 — the adjusted value of that $72,140 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 147 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 $76,660 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $50,730, the highest tenth $105,000, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Montana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $63,013 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $56,865 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 $76,660. 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 ($50,730) and the ninetieth ($105,000) 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 $63,013 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 $56,865 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.