Tour and Travel Guides in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,272
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,828
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,869
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
$40,100
Kept after tax
$33,272
Worth in national money
$36,869
State rank
16
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is one of the better-paying states for tour and travel guides. The middle earner takes $40,100, which ranks 16 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 5.19% above the national middle.
- Within Montana this is lower-paid work. Of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, tour and travel guides ranks 401. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $40,100 you keep $33,272, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,869 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $39,800, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Montana ranks 16 of 50 states publishing a median for tour and travel guides, at $40,100 — about 5.19% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Montana reports, tour and travel guides ranks 401 of 475, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for tour and travel guides on $40,100 is $33,272. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,869 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 $39,800 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Tour and Travel Guides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,280 |
| This salary | $40,100 |
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 | $33,272 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,469 |
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 | $38,696 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,776 |
| 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 $40,100. The published range is $23,770 up to $59,280, 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 $33,272, worked from $40,100. 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 401 of 475.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,869 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 401.
- Reported values are medians; for tour and travel guides in Montana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,770 to $59,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Montana take-home of $33,272, on $40,100 for work ranking 401 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 401 of 475 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,869, worked from $40,100, 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 401 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $23,770 at the bottom tenth to $59,280 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $36,869 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 $33,272 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($23,770) and the ninetieth ($59,280) 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 $36,869 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 $33,272 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.