Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,240
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$10,680
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,131
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
$55,920
Kept after tax
$45,240
Worth in national money
$50,131
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 25 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $55,920. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 256.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $55,920 you keep $45,240, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,131 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $58,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 25 of 50 for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators at $55,920. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators sits at 256 of 475 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators on $55,920 is $45,240. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,131 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 $58,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,350 |
| This salary | $55,920 |
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 | $45,240 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,112 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,650 |
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 | $53,591 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,995 |
| 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 paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Montana earn under $55,920 and half over. The published range runs $36,510 at the tenth percentile to $78,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $45,240, worked from $55,920. 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 256 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,131 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 256.
- Figures are distribution medians for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,510 to $78,350; 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.
- The Montana take-home of $45,240, on $55,920 for work ranking 256 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 256 of 475 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,131, worked from $55,920, 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 256 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 $58,300, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,510, the highest tenth $78,350, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $50,131 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Montana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $45,240 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 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 $58,300. 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 ($36,510) and the ninetieth ($78,350) 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 $50,131 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 $45,240 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.