Postsecondary Teachers, All Other in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,366
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$17,184
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,892
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
$77,550
Kept after tax
$60,366
Worth in national money
$66,892
State rank
18
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 18 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $77,550. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 115 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $77,550 you keep $60,366, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,892 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $87,600, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 18 of 48 for postsecondary teachers, all other at $77,550. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Montana, postsecondary teachers, all other ranks 115 of 475 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for postsecondary teachers, all other on $77,550 is $60,366. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,892 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 $87,600 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postsecondary Teachers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $150,320 |
| This salary | $77,550 |
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 | $60,366 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,386 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,663 |
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 | $73,256 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,296 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,550 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,840 and the ninetieth is $150,320 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,366 take-home in Montana comes from $77,550. 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 115 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,892, the adjusted value of that $77,550 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 115 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $77,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,840 to $150,320. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $60,366, from $77,550, 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 115 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $66,892 — the adjusted value of that $77,550 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 115 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 $87,600, 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 $37,840, the highest tenth $150,320, 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 $66,892 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, $60,366 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $87,600. 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 ($37,840) and the ninetieth ($150,320) 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 $66,892 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 $60,366 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.