Packers and Packagers, Hand in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,384
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$5,576
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,561
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
$34,960
Kept after tax
$29,384
Worth in national money
$32,561
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 34 of 51 states for packers and packagers, hand, with a middle wage of $34,960. 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, packers and packagers, hand ranks 450. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,960 the take-home is $29,384; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,561 would nationally. The average comes to $35,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana ranks 34 of 51 for packers and packagers, hand at $34,960. 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, packers and packagers, hand ranks 450 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.
- Post-tax income for packers and packagers, hand in Montana, on $34,960, is $29,384 — equivalent to $32,561 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 $35,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Packers and Packagers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,950 |
| This salary | $34,960 |
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 | $29,384 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,270 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,410 |
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 | $33,857 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,705 |
| 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 $34,960. The published range is $22,980 up to $45,950, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $29,384, worked from $34,960. 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 450 of 475.
- Two cautions on $32,561, the adjusted value of that $34,960 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 450 of 475 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for packers and packagers, hand in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,980 to $45,950. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Montana take-home of $29,384, on $34,960 for work ranking 450 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 450 of 475 in the state.
- This $32,561 adjusted figure, worked from $34,960, 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 450 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 450 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,980 at the bottom tenth to $45,950 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 $32,561 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, $29,384 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,980 to $45,950) 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 $32,561 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 $29,384 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.