Registered Nurses in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,367
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$19,913
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,434
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
$85,280
Kept after tax
$65,367
Worth in national money
$72,434
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 30 of 51 states for registered nurses, with a middle wage of $85,280. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Montana this is well-paid work. Of 475 occupations with published figures in the state, registered nurses ranks 76 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $85,280 you keep $65,367, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $72,434 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $91,510, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 30 of 51 for registered nurses at $85,280. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Montana publishes a median for, registered nurses sits 76 of 475 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for registered nurses on $85,280 is $65,367. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $72,434 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 $91,510 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $85,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $113,920 |
| This salary | $85,280 |
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 | $65,367 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,824 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,608 |
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 | $80,365 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,222 |
| 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 $85,280. The published range is $70,120 up to $113,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $65,367 take-home in Montana comes from $85,280. 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 76 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $72,434, the adjusted value of that $85,280 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 76 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for registered nurses in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $70,120 to $113,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $65,367, from $85,280, 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 76 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $72,434 — the adjusted value of that $85,280 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 76 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 $91,510 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $70,120 at the tenth percentile, $113,920 at the ninetieth.
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 $72,434 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 $65,367.
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 $91,510. 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 ($70,120 to $113,920) 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 $72,434 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 $65,367 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.