Health Education Specialists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,670
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$9,531
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,174
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
$51,200
Kept after tax
$41,670
Worth in national money
$46,174
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for health education specialists. The middle earner takes $51,200, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 20.09% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Health education specialists ranks 277 among 475 occupations Montana publishes pay for.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $51,200 the take-home is $41,670; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $46,174 would nationally. The average comes to $54,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana ranks 48 of 51 for health education specialists, with a median of $51,200 — about 20.09% 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.
- Position 277 of 475 in Montana places health education specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for health education specialists in Montana, on $51,200, is $41,670 — equivalent to $46,174 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $54,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Education Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,990 |
| This salary | $51,200 |
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 | $41,670 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,596 |
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 | $49,147 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,930 |
| 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 $51,200. The published range is $35,230 up to $82,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $41,670 take-home in Montana comes from $51,200. 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 277 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,174, the adjusted value of that $51,200 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 277 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for health education specialists in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,230 to $82,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $41,670, from $51,200, 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 277 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $46,174 — the adjusted value of that $51,200 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 277 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 $54,500, 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 $35,230 and the top tenth $82,990 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $46,174.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Montana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $41,670 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $54,500. 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 ($35,230) and the ninetieth ($82,990) 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 $46,174 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 $41,670 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.