Software Developers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,115
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$32,875
26.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$98,749
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
$121,990
Kept after tax
$89,115
Worth in national money
$98,749
State rank
36
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for software developers is on the low side in Montana. The middle earner gets $121,990. That is 36 of 50 states, and about 10.29% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 15 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $121,990 you keep $89,115, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $98,749 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $133,550, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For software developers, Montana sits in the lower band at $121,990, ranking 36 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 10.29%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Montana, software developers ranks 15 of 475 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for software developers on $121,990 is $89,115. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $98,749 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 $133,550 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Software Developers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $121,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $221,400 |
| This salary | $121,990 |
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 | $89,115 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,646 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,351 |
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 | $114,122 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,921 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $121,990 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $73,370 and the ninetieth is $221,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $89,115, worked from $121,990. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 15 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $98,749, the adjusted value of that $121,990 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 15 of 475 in the state.
- The Montana median of $121,990 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $73,370 to $221,400. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Montana take-home of $89,115, on $121,990 for work ranking 15 of 475 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 15 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $98,749 — the adjusted value of that $121,990 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 15 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 $133,550, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $73,370, the highest tenth $221,400, 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 $98,749 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 $89,115.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $133,550. 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 ($73,370) and the ninetieth ($221,400) 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 $98,749 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 $89,115 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.