Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,684
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,316
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,109
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
$38,000
Kept after tax
$31,684
Worth in national money
$35,109
State rank
11
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Montana's middle earner gets $38,000, putting the state 11 of 50 — about 6.17% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, this job lands at 421. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,000 you keep $31,684, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,109 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists, Montana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $38,000, ranking 11 of 50 and running about 6.17% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 421 of 475 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists on $38,000 is $31,684. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,109 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 $42,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,440 |
| This salary | $38,000 |
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 | $31,684 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,713 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,445 |
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 | $36,719 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,747 |
| 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 $38,000. The published range is $22,160 up to $75,440, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $31,684, from $38,000, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 421 of 475 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $35,109, the adjusted value of that $38,000 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Montana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 421 of 475 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,160 to $75,440. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,684 from $38,000. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 421 of 475 locally.
- This $35,109 adjusted figure, worked from $38,000, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 421 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 421 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 $42,890, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $22,160 and the top tenth $75,440 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $35,109 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $31,684.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $42,890. 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 ($22,160) and the ninetieth ($75,440) 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 $35,109 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 $31,684 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.