Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,435
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$9,455
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,914
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
$50,890
Kept after tax
$41,435
Worth in national money
$45,914
State rank
11
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Montana's middle earner gets $50,890, putting the state 11 of 49 — about 3.37% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 281 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $50,890 the take-home is $41,435; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,914 would nationally. The average comes to $54,070, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For insurance claims and policy processing clerks, Montana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,890, ranking 11 of 49 and running about 3.37% 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.
- Insurance claims and policy processing clerks ranks 281 of 475 occupations in Montana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for insurance claims and policy processing clerks in Montana, on $50,890, is $41,435 — equivalent to $45,914 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 $54,070 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,580 |
| This salary | $50,890 |
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 | $41,435 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,070 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,592 |
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 | $48,855 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,926 |
| 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 $50,890. The published range is $39,520 up to $72,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $41,435, from $50,890, 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 281 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 $45,914, the adjusted value of that $50,890 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 281 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for insurance claims and policy processing clerks in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,520 to $72,580. 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 $41,435 from $50,890. 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 281 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $45,914 — the adjusted value of that $50,890 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 281 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 $54,070, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,520 at the bottom tenth to $72,580 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $45,914.
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 $41,435.
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.
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 $54,070. 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 ($39,520 to $72,580) 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 $45,914 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 $41,435 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.