Industrial Engineers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,757
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$26,673
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,163
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
$104,430
Kept after tax
$77,757
Worth in national money
$86,163
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is one of the better-paying states for industrial engineers. The middle earner takes $104,430, which ranks 17 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 1.94% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 30 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 $104,430 you keep $77,757 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $86,163 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $117,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana ranks 17 of 51 states publishing a median for industrial engineers, at $104,430 — about 1.94% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Montana, industrial engineers ranks 30 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 $77,757 after the full tax stack, from $104,430. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $86,163 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $117,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Industrial Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $175,660 |
| This salary | $104,430 |
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 | $77,757 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,297 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,474 |
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 | $97,977 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,036 |
| 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 $104,430. The published range is $76,920 up to $175,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $77,757, from $104,430, 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 30 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 $86,163, the adjusted value of that $104,430 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 30 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for industrial engineers in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $76,920 to $175,660. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $77,757 from $104,430. 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 30 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $86,163 — the adjusted value of that $104,430 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 30 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 $117,740, 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 $76,920, the highest tenth $175,660, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $86,163 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $77,757 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $117,740. 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 ($76,920) and the ninetieth ($175,660) 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 $86,163 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 $77,757 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.