Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,534
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$11,096
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,564
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
$57,630
Kept after tax
$46,534
Worth in national money
$51,564
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays this job a middle wage of $57,630, 44 of 51 states and about 11.5% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 241 among 475 occupations Montana publishes pay for.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,630 the take-home is $46,534; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,564 would nationally. The average comes to $59,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana's $57,630 median for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school places it 44 of 51 states, about 11.5% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 241 of 475 in Montana places special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school 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 special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Montana, on $57,630, is $46,534 — equivalent to $51,564 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 $59,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,930 |
| This salary | $57,630 |
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 | $46,534 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,486 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,669 |
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 | $55,201 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,019 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,630 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,890 and the ninetieth is $78,930 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,534 take-home in Montana comes from $57,630. 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 241 of 475.
- Two cautions on $51,564, the adjusted value of that $57,630 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 241 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $57,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,890 to $78,930. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $46,534, from $57,630, 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 241 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- This $51,564 adjusted figure, worked from $57,630, 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 241 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 241 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,890 at the tenth percentile, $78,930 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 $51,564 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 $46,534.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,890 to $78,930) 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 $51,564 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 $46,534 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.