Opticians, Dispensing in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,530
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,520
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,695
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
$47,050
Kept after tax
$38,530
Worth in national money
$42,695
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for opticians, dispensing. The median is $47,050, ranking 26 of 51 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: 332 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,050 you keep $38,530, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,695 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $49,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for opticians, dispensing: a median of $47,050, ranking 26 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Opticians, dispensing ranks 332 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for opticians, dispensing on $47,050 is $38,530. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,695 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 $49,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,730 |
| This salary | $47,050 |
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 | $38,530 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,985 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,548 |
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 | $45,240 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,873 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,050 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,240 and the ninetieth is $64,730 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $38,530, from $47,050, 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 332 of 475 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,695, the adjusted value of that $47,050 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 332 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $47,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,240 to $64,730. 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 $38,530 from $47,050. 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 332 of 475 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $42,695 — the adjusted value of that $47,050 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 332 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 $49,220, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,240 and the top tenth $64,730, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $42,695 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $38,530 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 $49,220. 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 ($36,240 to $64,730) 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 $42,695 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 $38,530 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.