Teachers and Instructors, All Other in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,922
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,968
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,238
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
$48,890
Kept after tax
$39,922
Worth in national money
$44,238
State rank
49
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for teachers and instructors, all other. The middle earner takes $48,890, ranking 49 of 50 states — about 26.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Teachers and instructors, all other ranks 298 among 475 occupations Montana publishes pay for.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,890 you keep $39,922, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,238 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 49 of 50 for teachers and instructors, all other, with a median of $48,890 — about 26.08% 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.
- Position 298 of 475 in Montana places teachers and instructors, all other 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for teachers and instructors, all other on $48,890 is $39,922. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,238 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 $57,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Teachers and Instructors, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,990 |
| This salary | $48,890 |
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 | $39,922 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,463 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,569 |
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 | $46,972 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,898 |
| 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 teachers and instructors, all other in Montana earn under $48,890 and half over. The published range runs $30,360 at the tenth percentile to $97,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,922 take-home in Montana comes from $48,890. 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 298 of 475.
- Two cautions on $44,238, the adjusted value of that $48,890 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 298 of 475 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for teachers and instructors, all other in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,360 to $97,990; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,922, from $48,890, 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 298 of 475 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 50 for it.
- This $44,238 adjusted figure, worked from $48,890, 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 298 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 298 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 $57,710 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $30,360 and the top tenth $97,990 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $44,238 in national terms.
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 $39,922 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $57,710. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($30,360) and the ninetieth ($97,990) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $44,238 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 $39,922 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.