Helpers--Electricians in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,473
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$5,927
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,768
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
$36,400
Kept after tax
$30,473
Worth in national money
$33,768
State rank
42
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for helpers--electricians is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $36,400. That is 42 of 47 states, and about 14.69% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, helpers--electricians lands at 439. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,400 the take-home is $30,473; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,768 would nationally. The average comes to $38,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For helpers--electricians, Montana sits in the lower band at $36,400, ranking 42 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 14.69%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 439 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.
- Post-tax income for helpers--electricians in Montana, on $36,400, is $30,473 — equivalent to $33,768 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 $38,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Electricians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,940 |
| This salary | $36,400 |
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 | $30,473 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,427 |
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 | $35,213 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,725 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,400 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,000 and the ninetieth is $46,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,473 take-home in Montana comes from $36,400. 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 439 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,768 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 439.
- The Montana median of $36,400 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,000 to $46,940. 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 $30,473, from $36,400, 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 439 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,768, worked from $36,400, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Montana address, on work sitting at 439 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 $38,480 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,000 at the tenth percentile, $46,940 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,768.
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 $30,473 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $38,480. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,000 to $46,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Montana rather than a national figure.
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 $33,768 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 $30,473 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.