Stockers and Order Fillers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,478
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,572
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,989
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
$39,050
Kept after tax
$32,478
Worth in national money
$35,989
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for stockers and order fillers is strong here. Montana's middle earner gets $39,050, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 4.61% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Montana, this one sits low: 409 of 475 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,050 you keep $32,478 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,989 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,240, since top earners drag the number up.
- For stockers and order fillers, Montana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $39,050, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 4.61% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Stockers and order fillers occupies position 409 of 475 in Montana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Montana is $32,478 after the full tax stack, from $39,050. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,989 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,240 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Stockers and Order Fillers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,060 |
| This salary | $39,050 |
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 | $32,478 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,557 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,457 |
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 | $37,708 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,762 |
| 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 $39,050. The published range is $31,110 up to $48,060, 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 $32,478, worked from $39,050. 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 409 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,989 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 409.
- Reported values are medians; for stockers and order fillers in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,110 to $48,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Montana take-home of $32,478, on $39,050 for work ranking 409 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 409 of 475 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,989, worked from $39,050, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Montana address, on work sitting at 409 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 $40,240, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,110 at the bottom tenth to $48,060 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,989 in national terms.
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 $32,478.
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 $40,240. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,110 to $48,060) 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 $35,989 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 $32,478 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.