Helpers--Production Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,819
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,291
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,907
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
$46,110
Kept after tax
$37,819
Worth in national money
$41,907
State rank
2
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for helpers--production workers is strong here. Montana's middle earner gets $46,110, putting the state 2 of 49 — about 18.02% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 348.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $46,110 the take-home is $37,819; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,907 would nationally. The average lands at $43,500, below the middle of the range.
- For helpers--production workers, Montana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,110, ranking 2 of 49 and running about 18.02% 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.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, helpers--production workers sits at 348 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.
- Post-tax income for helpers--production workers in Montana, on $46,110, is $37,819 — equivalent to $41,907 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 $43,500 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Helpers--Production Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,690 |
| This salary | $46,110 |
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 | $37,819 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,229 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,538 |
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 | $44,355 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,860 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,110 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,280 and the ninetieth is $50,690 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $37,819 take-home in Montana comes from $46,110. 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 348 of 475.
- Two cautions on $41,907, the adjusted value of that $46,110 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 348 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $46,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,280 to $50,690. 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 $37,819, from $46,110, 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 348 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 49 for it.
- This $41,907 adjusted figure, worked from $46,110, 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 348 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 348 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 $43,500 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $33,280 at the bottom tenth to $50,690 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $41,907 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $37,819 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $43,500. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,280 to $50,690) 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 $41,907 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 $37,819 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.