Medical Records Specialists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,905
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$9,285
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,328
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
$50,190
Kept after tax
$40,905
Worth in national money
$45,328
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for medical records specialists. The median is $50,190, ranking 34 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 284 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,190 you keep $40,905 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,328 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,720, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for medical records specialists: a median of $50,190, 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.
- Medical records specialists ranks 284 of 475 occupations in Montana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Montana is $40,905 after the full tax stack, from $50,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,328 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,720 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Medical Records Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,540 |
| This salary | $50,190 |
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 | $40,905 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,584 |
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 | $48,196 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,916 |
| 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 $50,190. The published range is $40,460 up to $64,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,905 take-home in Montana comes from $50,190. 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 284 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,328, the adjusted value of that $50,190 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 284 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for medical records specialists in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,460 to $64,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,905, from $50,190, 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 284 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $45,328 — the adjusted value of that $50,190 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 284 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 $52,720, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,460 at the tenth percentile, $64,540 at the ninetieth.
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 $45,328 in national terms.
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, $40,905 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $52,720. 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 ($40,460 to $64,540) 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 $45,328 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 $40,905 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.