Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,419
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$7,841
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,357
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
$44,260
Kept after tax
$36,419
Worth in national money
$40,357
State rank
14
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Montana pays this job a middle wage of $44,260, ranking 14 of 47 states and sitting about 8.06% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Montana, this one sits low: 365 of 475 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,260 the take-home is $36,419; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $40,357 would nationally. The average lands at $41,080, below the middle of the range.
- Montana's median for office machine operators, except computer is $44,260, about 8.06% above the national figure and 14 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Office machine operators, except computer occupies position 365 of 475 in Montana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for office machine operators, except computer in Montana, on $44,260, is $36,419 — equivalent to $40,357 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $41,080 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,550 |
| This salary | $44,260 |
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 | $36,419 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,743 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,516 |
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 | $42,613 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,834 |
| 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 $44,260. The published range is $23,560 up to $56,550, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,419 take-home in Montana comes from $44,260. 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 365 of 475.
- Two cautions on $40,357, the adjusted value of that $44,260 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 365 of 475 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for office machine operators, except computer in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,560 to $56,550. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,419, from $44,260, 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 365 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 47 for it.
- This $40,357 adjusted figure, worked from $44,260, 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 365 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 365 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 $41,080, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $23,560 at the bottom tenth to $56,550 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,357 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, $36,419 remains.
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 47 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 $41,080. 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 ($23,560) and the ninetieth ($56,550) 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 $40,357 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 $36,419 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.