Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,285
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$16,595
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,694
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
$75,880
Kept after tax
$59,285
Worth in national money
$65,694
State rank
39
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $75,880. That is 39 of 46 states, and about 9.98% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 126 among 475 occupations Montana publishes pay for.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $75,880 the take-home is $59,285; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $65,694 would nationally. The average lands at $72,300, below the middle of the range.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary, Montana sits in the lower band at $75,880, ranking 39 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 9.98%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 126 of 475 in Montana places sociology teachers, postsecondary in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Montana, on $75,880, is $59,285 — equivalent to $65,694 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $72,300 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,390 |
| This salary | $75,880 |
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 | $59,285 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,212 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,674 |
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 | $71,720 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,313 |
| 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 sociology teachers, postsecondary in Montana earn under $75,880 and half over. The published range runs $25,560 at the tenth percentile to $125,390 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $59,285 take-home in Montana comes from $75,880. 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 126 of 475.
- Two cautions on $65,694, the adjusted value of that $75,880 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 126 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $25,560 to $125,390; 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 $59,285, from $75,880, 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 126 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 46 for it.
- This $65,694 adjusted figure, worked from $75,880, 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 126 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 126 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $72,300, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $25,560 and the top tenth $125,390 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Montana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $65,694 in national terms.
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 $59,285 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $72,300. 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 ($25,560) and the ninetieth ($125,390) 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 $65,694 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 $59,285 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.