Surgical Technologists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,061
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$11,910
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,364
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
$60,970
Kept after tax
$49,061
Worth in national money
$54,364
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Montana pays surgical technologists a middle wage of $60,970, 37 of 51 states and about 5.69% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 199 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,970 you keep $49,061, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,364 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $60,440, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Montana's $60,970 median for surgical technologists places it 37 of 51 states, about 5.69% 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.
- Surgical technologists ranks 199 of 475 occupations in Montana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for surgical technologists on $60,970 is $49,061. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,364 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 $60,440 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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: Surgical Technologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,330 |
| This salary | $60,970 |
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 | $49,061 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,169 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,707 |
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 | $58,345 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,065 |
| 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 surgical technologists in Montana earn under $60,970 and half over. The published range runs $37,690 at the tenth percentile to $79,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $49,061, worked from $60,970. 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 199 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,364, the adjusted value of that $60,970 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 199 of 475 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for surgical technologists in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,690 to $79,330; 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.
- The Montana take-home of $49,061, on $60,970 for work ranking 199 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 199 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $54,364 — the adjusted value of that $60,970 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 199 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,690 at the bottom tenth to $79,330 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 $54,364.
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 $49,061 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($37,690 to $79,330) 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 $54,364 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 $49,061 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.