Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,708
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$11,152
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,757
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
$57,860
Kept after tax
$46,708
Worth in national money
$51,757
State rank
1
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $57,860, which ranks 1 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 25.32% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 240.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $57,860 you keep $46,708, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,757 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $55,680, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Montana ranks 1 of 48 states publishing a median for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, at $57,860 — about 25.32% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic sits at 240 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 molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic on $57,860 is $46,708. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,757 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 $55,680 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,280 |
| This salary | $57,860 |
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 | $46,708 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,671 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,672 |
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 | $55,417 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,022 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,860 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,110 and the ninetieth is $62,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,708 take-home in Montana comes from $57,860. 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 240 of 475.
- Two cautions on $51,757, the adjusted value of that $57,860 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 240 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $57,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,110 to $62,280. 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 $46,708, from $57,860, 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 240 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 48 for it.
- This $51,757 adjusted figure, worked from $57,860, 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 240 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 240 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 $55,680, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $47,110 at the bottom tenth to $62,280 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $51,757 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 $46,708 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $55,680. 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 ($47,110 to $62,280) 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 $51,757 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 $46,708 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.