Speech-Language Pathologists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,136
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$17,604
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,745
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
$78,740
Kept after tax
$61,136
Worth in national money
$67,745
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays speech-language pathologists a middle wage of $78,740, 46 of 51 states and about 19.55% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 110 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $78,740 you keep $61,136 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,745 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $80,780, since top earners drag the number up.
- Montana's $78,740 median for speech-language pathologists places it 46 of 51 states, about 19.55% 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.
- Within Montana, speech-language pathologists ranks 110 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.
- Retained pay in Montana is $61,136 after the full tax stack, from $78,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,745 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $80,780 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Speech-Language Pathologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,330 |
| This salary | $78,740 |
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 | $61,136 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,224 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,654 |
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 | $74,351 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,285 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Montana earn less than $78,740. The published range is $58,460 up to $106,330, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $61,136, worked from $78,740. 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 110 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $67,745, the adjusted value of that $78,740 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 110 of 475 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for speech-language pathologists in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $58,460 to $106,330. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Montana take-home of $61,136, on $78,740 for work ranking 110 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 110 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $67,745 — the adjusted value of that $78,740 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 110 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $58,460 at the bottom tenth to $106,330 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $67,745.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Montana's own levy, $61,136 remains.
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 ($58,460 to $106,330) 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 $67,745 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 $61,136 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.