Recreational Therapists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,601
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$9,509
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,099
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
$51,110
Kept after tax
$41,601
Worth in national money
$46,099
State rank
38
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for recreational therapists is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $51,110. That is 38 of 48 states, and about 17.51% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 278 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,110 you keep $41,601, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $46,099 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,730, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For recreational therapists, Montana sits in the lower band at $51,110, ranking 38 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 17.51%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Recreational therapists ranks 278 of 475 occupations in Montana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for recreational therapists on $51,110 is $41,601. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $46,099 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 $57,730 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,260 |
| This salary | $51,110 |
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 | $41,601 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,247 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,595 |
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 | $49,062 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,929 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Montana earn less than $51,110. The published range is $38,210 up to $86,260, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $41,601 take-home in Montana comes from $51,110. 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 278 of 475.
- Two cautions on $46,099, the adjusted value of that $51,110 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 278 of 475 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for recreational therapists in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,210 to $86,260. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $41,601, from $51,110, 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 278 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 48 for it.
- This $46,099 adjusted figure, worked from $51,110, 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 278 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 278 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 $57,730, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $38,210, the highest tenth $86,260, 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 $46,099 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 $41,601.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $57,730. 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 ($38,210) and the ninetieth ($86,260) 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 $46,099 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 $41,601 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.