Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,375
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$5,895
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,659
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
$36,270
Kept after tax
$30,375
Worth in national money
$33,659
State rank
36
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,270, ranking 36 of 46 states — about 6.11% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Montana, this one sits low: 441 of 475 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,270 you keep $30,375, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,659 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 36 of 46 for switchboard operators, including answering service, with a median of $36,270 — about 6.11% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Switchboard operators, including answering service occupies position 441 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for switchboard operators, including answering service on $36,270 is $30,375. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,659 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 $37,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,150 |
| This salary | $36,270 |
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 | $30,375 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,323 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,425 |
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 | $35,090 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,724 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,270 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,960 and the ninetieth is $47,150 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $30,375, from $36,270, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 441 of 475 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,659, the adjusted value of that $36,270 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 441 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $36,270 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,960 to $47,150. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,375 from $36,270. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 441 of 475 locally.
- This $33,659 adjusted figure, worked from $36,270, 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 441 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 441 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $37,950 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,960 at the tenth percentile, $47,150 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,659.
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, $30,375 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $37,950. 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 ($30,960 to $47,150) 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 $33,659 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 $30,375 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.