Recreation Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,482
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$5,608
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,670
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
$35,090
Kept after tax
$29,482
Worth in national money
$32,670
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana sits in the middle of the pack for recreation workers. The median is $35,090, ranking 27 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Montana, this one sits low: 448 of 475 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,090 you keep $29,482 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $32,670 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $38,520, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana occupies the middle band for recreation workers: a median of $35,090, ranking 27 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Recreation workers occupies position 448 of 475 in Montana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Montana is $29,482 after the full tax stack, from $35,090. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,670 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $38,520 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,020 |
| This salary | $35,090 |
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 | $29,482 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,375 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,412 |
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 | $33,979 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,707 |
| 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 recreation workers in Montana earn under $35,090 and half over. The published range runs $29,070 at the tenth percentile to $50,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,482 take-home in Montana comes from $35,090. 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 448 of 475.
- Two cautions on $32,670, the adjusted value of that $35,090 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 448 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,070 to $50,020; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,482, from $35,090, 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 448 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- This $32,670 adjusted figure, worked from $35,090, 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 448 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 448 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $38,520, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,070 and the top tenth $50,020, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $32,670.
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 $29,482.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $38,520. 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 ($29,070 to $50,020) 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 $32,670 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 $29,482 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.