Motorcycle Mechanics in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,591
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,539
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,762
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
$47,130
Kept after tax
$38,591
Worth in national money
$42,762
State rank
27
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for motorcycle mechanics. The median is $47,130, ranking 27 of 45 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: 329 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 $47,130 you keep $38,591 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,762 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for motorcycle mechanics: a median of $47,130, ranking 27 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Motorcycle mechanics ranks 329 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 $38,591 after the full tax stack, from $47,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,762 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Motorcycle Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,270 |
| This salary | $47,130 |
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 | $38,591 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,049 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,549 |
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 | $45,315 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,874 |
| 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 motorcycle mechanics in Montana earn under $47,130 and half over. The published range runs $38,410 at the tenth percentile to $60,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $38,591, worked from $47,130. 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 329 of 475.
- Two cautions on $42,762, the adjusted value of that $47,130 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 329 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for motorcycle mechanics in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,410 to $60,270; 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.
- The Montana take-home of $38,591, on $47,130 for work ranking 329 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 329 of 475 in the state.
- This $42,762 adjusted figure, worked from $47,130, 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 329 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 329 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,410 at the bottom tenth to $60,270 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 $42,762.
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 $38,591.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,410 to $60,270) 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 $42,762 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 $38,591 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.