Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,252
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$12,618
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,792
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
$63,870
Kept after tax
$51,252
Worth in national money
$56,792
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $63,870, ranking 25 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 169.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,870 you keep $51,252, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $56,792 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $64,940, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for librarians and media collections specialists: a median of $63,870, ranking 25 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, librarians and media collections specialists sits at 169 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for librarians and media collections specialists on $63,870 is $51,252. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $56,792 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 $64,940 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,440 |
| This salary | $63,870 |
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 | $51,252 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,500 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,738 |
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 | $61,073 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,101 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,870 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,750 and the ninetieth is $84,440 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $51,252 take-home in Montana comes from $63,870. 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 169 of 475.
- Two cautions on $56,792, the adjusted value of that $63,870 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Montana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 169 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $63,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,750 to $84,440. 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 $51,252, from $63,870, 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 169 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 51 for it.
- This $56,792 adjusted figure, worked from $63,870, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 169 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 169 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,750 and the top tenth $84,440, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $56,792 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Montana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $51,252 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($40,750 to $84,440) 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 $56,792 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 $51,252 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.