Nursing Assistants in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,878
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$7,022
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,540
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
$40,900
Kept after tax
$33,878
Worth in national money
$37,540
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 26 of 51 states for nursing assistants, with a middle wage of $40,900. 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, nursing assistants ranks 399. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $40,900 you keep $33,878, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,540 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $43,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 26 of 51 for nursing assistants at $40,900. 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, nursing assistants ranks 399 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for nursing assistants on $40,900 is $33,878. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,540 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 $43,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,700 |
| This salary | $40,900 |
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 | $33,878 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,043 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,478 |
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 | $39,449 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,788 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,900 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,780 and the ninetieth is $49,700 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $33,878, from $40,900, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 399 of 475 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,540 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 399.
- The Montana median of $40,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,780 to $49,700. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,878 from $40,900. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 399 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,540, worked from $40,900, 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 399 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $43,160 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,780 and the top tenth $49,700, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $37,540 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, $33,878 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 $43,160. 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 ($36,780 to $49,700) 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 $37,540 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 $33,878 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.