Private Detectives and Investigators in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,817
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,613
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,014
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
$47,430
Kept after tax
$38,817
Worth in national money
$43,014
State rank
32
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,430, ranking 32 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 322.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,430 you keep $38,817 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,014 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,540, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for private detectives and investigators: a median of $47,430, ranking 32 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, private detectives and investigators sits at 322 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.
- Retained pay in Montana is $38,817 after the full tax stack, from $47,430. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,014 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,540 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,190 |
| This salary | $47,430 |
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 | $38,817 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,290 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,553 |
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 | $45,597 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,878 |
| 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 private detectives and investigators in Montana earn under $47,430 and half over. The published range runs $39,900 at the tenth percentile to $73,190 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $38,817, from $47,430, 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 322 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 $43,014 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 322.
- Figures are distribution medians for private detectives and investigators in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,900 to $73,190; 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 $38,817 from $47,430. 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 322 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,014, worked from $47,430, 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 322 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,540 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,900 at the bottom tenth to $73,190 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 $43,014 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, $38,817 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $52,540. 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 ($39,900 to $73,190) 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 $43,014 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 $38,817 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.