Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,360
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$5,890
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,642
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
$36,250
Kept after tax
$30,360
Worth in national money
$33,642
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for laundry and dry-cleaning workers is strong here. Montana's middle earner gets $36,250, putting the state 15 of 51 — about 3.9% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Montana this is lower-paid work. Of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, laundry and dry-cleaning workers ranks 442. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,250 you keep $30,360, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,642 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $36,730, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For laundry and dry-cleaning workers, Montana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $36,250, ranking 15 of 51 and running about 3.9% 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.
- Against every occupation Montana reports, laundry and dry-cleaning workers ranks 442 of 475, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for laundry and dry-cleaning workers on $36,250 is $30,360. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,642 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 $36,730 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,980 |
| This salary | $36,250 |
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 | $30,360 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,307 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,425 |
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 | $35,071 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,723 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,250 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,160 and the ninetieth is $44,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,360 take-home in Montana comes from $36,250. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 442 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,642, the adjusted value of that $36,250 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 442 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $36,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,160 to $44,980. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $30,360, from $36,250, assumes a single Montana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 442 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $33,642 — the adjusted value of that $36,250 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 442 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,160 and the top tenth $44,980, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,642 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 $30,360.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,160 to $44,980) 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 $33,642 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 $30,360 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.