Marriage and Family Therapists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,462
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,498
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,620
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
$46,960
Kept after tax
$38,462
Worth in national money
$42,620
State rank
41
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for marriage and family therapists. The middle earner takes $46,960, ranking 41 of 45 states — about 29.85% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 333.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $46,960 the take-home is $38,462; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,620 would nationally. The average comes to $54,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana ranks 41 of 45 for marriage and family therapists, with a median of $46,960 — about 29.85% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, marriage and family therapists sits at 333 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.
- Post-tax income for marriage and family therapists in Montana, on $46,960, is $38,462 — equivalent to $42,620 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 $54,580 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Marriage and Family Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,310 |
| This salary | $46,960 |
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 | $38,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,912 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,547 |
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 | $45,155 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,871 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of marriage and family therapists in Montana earn under $46,960 and half over. The published range runs $32,170 at the tenth percentile to $75,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $38,462, from $46,960, 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 333 of 475 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $42,620, the adjusted value of that $46,960 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 333 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for marriage and family therapists in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,170 to $75,310; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,462 from $46,960. 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 333 of 475 locally.
- This $42,620 adjusted figure, worked from $46,960, 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 333 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 333 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $54,580, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $32,170, the highest tenth $75,310, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $42,620.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Montana's own levy, $38,462 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $54,580. 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 ($32,170) and the ninetieth ($75,310) 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 $42,620 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 $38,462 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.