Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,177
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$7,763
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,088
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
$43,940
Kept after tax
$36,177
Worth in national money
$40,088
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $43,940. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 7.57% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, this job lands at 368. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $43,940 you keep $36,177, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,088 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $43,420, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, Montana sits in the lower band at $43,940, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.57%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 368 of 475 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive on $43,940 is $36,177. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,088 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 $43,420 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,970 |
| This salary | $43,940 |
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 | $36,177 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,486 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,513 |
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 | $42,312 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,830 |
| 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 secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in Montana earn under $43,940 and half over. The published range runs $30,430 at the tenth percentile to $55,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,177 take-home in Montana comes from $43,940. 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 368 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,088 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 368.
- Figures are distribution medians for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,430 to $55,970; 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 $36,177, from $43,940, 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 368 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,088, worked from $43,940, 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 368 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,430 at the bottom tenth to $55,970 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 $40,088 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Montana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $36,177 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,430 to $55,970) 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 $40,088 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 $36,177 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.