Highway Maintenance Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,053
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$11,907
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,356
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
$60,960
Kept after tax
$49,053
Worth in national money
$54,356
State rank
7
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Montana pays highway maintenance workers a middle wage of $60,960, ranking 7 of 49 states and sitting about 21.29% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Highway maintenance workers ranks 200 among 475 occupations Montana publishes pay for.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,960 you keep $49,053, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,356 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $60,320, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Montana's median for highway maintenance workers is $60,960, about 21.29% above the national figure and 7 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 200 of 475 in Montana places highway maintenance workers 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for highway maintenance workers on $60,960 is $49,053. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,356 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 $60,320 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,610 |
| This salary | $60,960 |
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 | $49,053 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,161 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,707 |
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 | $58,336 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,065 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,960 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,650 and the ninetieth is $65,610 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $49,053, from $60,960, 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 200 of 475 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,356, the adjusted value of that $60,960 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 200 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $60,960 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,650 to $65,610. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,053 from $60,960. 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 200 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $54,356 — the adjusted value of that $60,960 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 200 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $50,650 and the top tenth $65,610, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,356.
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, $49,053 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,650 to $65,610) 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 $54,356 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 $49,053 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.