Medical Equipment Preparers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,730
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$7,940
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,700
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
$44,670
Kept after tax
$36,730
Worth in national money
$40,700
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for medical equipment preparers is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $44,670. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 6.35% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, medical equipment preparers lands at 363. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,670 you keep $36,730, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,700 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $45,120, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For medical equipment preparers, Montana sits in the lower band at $44,670, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 6.35%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 363 of 475 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for medical equipment preparers on $44,670 is $36,730. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,700 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 $45,120 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Equipment Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,770 |
| This salary | $44,670 |
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 | $36,730 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,072 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,521 |
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 | $42,999 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,840 |
| 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 $44,670. The published range is $36,810 up to $56,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $36,730, worked from $44,670. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 363 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,700 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 363.
- Reported values are medians; for medical equipment preparers in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,810 to $56,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Montana take-home of $36,730, on $44,670 for work ranking 363 of 475 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 363 of 475 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,700, worked from $44,670, 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 363 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,810 at the bottom tenth to $56,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $40,700.
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 $36,730 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,810 to $56,770) 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 $40,700 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 $36,730 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.