Insurance Underwriters in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,702
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$12,438
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,183
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
$63,140
Kept after tax
$50,702
Worth in national money
$56,183
State rank
45
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for insurance underwriters is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $63,140. That is 45 of 49 states, and about 22.4% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 174.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,140 you keep $50,702 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,183 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $76,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- For insurance underwriters, Montana sits in the lower band at $63,140, ranking 45 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 22.4%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, insurance underwriters sits at 174 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.
- Retained pay in Montana is $50,702 after the full tax stack, from $63,140. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,183 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $76,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Insurance Underwriters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,880 |
| This salary | $63,140 |
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 | $50,702 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,913 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,732 |
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 | $60,388 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,095 |
| 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 $63,140. The published range is $50,280 up to $130,880, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $50,702, from $63,140, 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 174 of 475 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,183 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 174.
- Reported values are medians; for insurance underwriters in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,280 to $130,880. 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 $50,702 from $63,140. 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 174 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,183, worked from $63,140, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Montana address, on work sitting at 174 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 $76,970, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,280 at the bottom tenth to $130,880 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $56,183 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $50,702.
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 $76,970. 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 ($50,280) and the ninetieth ($130,880) 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 $56,183 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 $50,702 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.