Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,088
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$17,032
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,583
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
$77,120
Kept after tax
$60,088
Worth in national money
$66,583
State rank
35
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $77,120. That is 35 of 50 states, and about 4.01% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 475 occupations Montana reports, this job comes in at 117 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $77,120 you keep $60,088, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,583 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $84,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For psychology teachers, postsecondary, Montana sits in the lower band at $77,120, ranking 35 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 4.01%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Psychology teachers, postsecondary ranks 117 of 475 occupations by median in Montana, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for psychology teachers, postsecondary on $77,120 is $60,088. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,583 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 $84,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,160 |
| This salary | $77,120 |
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 | $60,088 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,084 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,666 |
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 | $72,861 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,301 |
| 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 psychology teachers, postsecondary in Montana earn under $77,120 and half over. The published range runs $45,780 at the tenth percentile to $141,160 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 $60,088, worked from $77,120. 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 117 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,583, the adjusted value of that $77,120 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 117 of 475 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychology teachers, postsecondary in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,780 to $141,160; 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 $60,088, on $77,120 for work ranking 117 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 117 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $66,583 — the adjusted value of that $77,120 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 117 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 $84,960 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $45,780 at the bottom tenth to $141,160 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $66,583 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Montana then takes its own share, leaving $60,088.
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.
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 $84,960. 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 ($45,780) and the ninetieth ($141,160) 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 $66,583 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 $60,088 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.