Library Technicians in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,850
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,370
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,293
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
$38,220
Kept after tax
$31,850
Worth in national money
$35,293
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for library technicians. The median is $38,220, ranking 34 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Montana, this one sits low: 418 of 475 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,220 you keep $31,850 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,293 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,030, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for library technicians: a median of $38,220, ranking 34 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.
- Library technicians occupies position 418 of 475 in Montana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Montana is $31,850 after the full tax stack, from $38,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,293 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,030 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Library Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,080 |
| This salary | $38,220 |
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 | $31,850 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,890 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,447 |
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 | $36,926 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,751 |
| 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 $38,220. The published range is $28,690 up to $56,080, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $31,850, from $38,220, 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 418 of 475 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $35,293, the adjusted value of that $38,220 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 418 of 475 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for library technicians in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,690 to $56,080. 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 $31,850 from $38,220. 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 418 of 475 locally.
- This $35,293 adjusted figure, worked from $38,220, 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 418 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 418 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $40,030 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,690 and the top tenth $56,080, 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 $35,293 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 $31,850.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $40,030. 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 ($28,690 to $56,080) 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 $35,293 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 $31,850 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.