Security Guards in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,047
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,433
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,511
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
$38,480
Kept after tax
$32,047
Worth in national money
$35,511
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Montana pays security guards around $38,480 at the midpoint, 24 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 475 occupations Montana publishes, security guards lands at 414. 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 $38,480 you keep $32,047, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,511 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,270, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For security guards the Montana median is $38,480, ranking 24 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Montana, this work ranks 414 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 security guards on $38,480 is $32,047. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,511 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 $42,270 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,310 |
| This salary | $38,480 |
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 | $32,047 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,099 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,450 |
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 | $37,171 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,754 |
| 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 security guards in Montana earn under $38,480 and half over. The published range runs $28,800 at the tenth percentile to $57,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,047 take-home in Montana comes from $38,480. 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 414 of 475.
- Two cautions on $35,511, the adjusted value of that $38,480 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 414 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,800 to $57,310; 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 $32,047, from $38,480, 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 414 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- This $35,511 adjusted figure, worked from $38,480, 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 414 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 414 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 $42,270 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 $28,800 at the bottom tenth to $57,310 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $35,511.
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 $32,047.
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 $42,270. 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 ($28,800) and the ninetieth ($57,310) 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 $35,511 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 $32,047 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.