Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,487
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$7,863
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,432
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
$44,350
Kept after tax
$36,487
Worth in national money
$40,432
State rank
19
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Montana pays this job around $44,350 at the midpoint, 19 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, this job lands at 364. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,350 you keep $36,487 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,432 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,880, since top earners drag the number up.
- For packaging and filling machine operators and tenders the Montana median is $44,350, ranking 19 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 364 of 475 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Montana is $36,487 after the full tax stack, from $44,350. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,432 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,880 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,220 |
| This salary | $44,350 |
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 | $36,487 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,815 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,517 |
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 | $42,698 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,835 |
| 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 packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Montana earn under $44,350 and half over. The published range runs $29,760 at the tenth percentile to $60,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $36,487, from $44,350, 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 364 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 $40,432 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 364.
- Figures are distribution medians for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,760 to $60,220; 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.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,487 from $44,350. 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 364 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,432, worked from $44,350, 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 364 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,760 at the bottom tenth to $60,220 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $40,432 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, $36,487 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 ($29,760 to $60,220) 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 $40,432 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 $36,487 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.