Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,604
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$7,256
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,345
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
$41,860
Kept after tax
$34,604
Worth in national money
$38,345
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 19 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $41,860. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Montana this is lower-paid work. Of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 386. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $41,860 you keep $34,604 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,345 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana ranks 19 of 51 for motor vehicle operators, all other at $41,860. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Montana reports, motor vehicle operators, all other ranks 386 of 475, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Montana is $34,604 after the full tax stack, from $41,860. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,345 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,200 |
| This salary | $41,860 |
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 | $34,604 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,815 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,489 |
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 | $40,353 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,801 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $41,860 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $27,150 and the ninetieth is $60,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $34,604 take-home in Montana comes from $41,860. 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 386 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,345, the adjusted value of that $41,860 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 386 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $41,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $27,150 to $60,200. 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 $34,604, from $41,860, 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 386 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $38,345 — the adjusted value of that $41,860 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 386 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $44,080, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $27,150 and the top tenth $60,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $38,345 in national terms.
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 $34,604.
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 $44,080. 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 ($27,150) and the ninetieth ($60,200) 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 $38,345 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 $34,604 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.