Human Resources Managers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$84,777
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$30,503
26.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$93,942
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
$115,280
Kept after tax
$84,777
Worth in national money
$93,942
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays human resources managers a middle wage of $115,280, 47 of 51 states and about 22.78% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 19 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $115,280 you keep $84,777 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $93,942 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $128,480, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana's $115,280 median for human resources managers places it 47 of 51 states, about 22.78% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within Montana, human resources managers ranks 19 of 475 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Montana is $84,777 after the full tax stack, from $115,280. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $93,942 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $128,480 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Human Resources Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $81,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $115,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $186,460 |
| This salary | $115,280 |
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 | $84,777 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $89,929 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,398 |
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 | $107,956 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,931 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $115,280 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $81,330 and the ninetieth is $186,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $84,777, worked from $115,280. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 19 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $93,942, the adjusted value of that $115,280 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 19 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $115,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $81,330 to $186,460. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Montana take-home of $84,777, on $115,280 for work ranking 19 of 475 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 19 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $93,942 — the adjusted value of that $115,280 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 19 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 $128,480, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $81,330, the highest tenth $186,460, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Montana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $93,942 in national terms.
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 $84,777.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $128,480. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($81,330) and the ninetieth ($186,460) 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 $93,942 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 $84,777 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.