Transportation Security Screeners in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,370
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$10,400
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,167
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
$54,770
Kept after tax
$44,370
Worth in national money
$49,167
State rank
44
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $54,770, ranking 44 of 45 states — about 17.97% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Montana, this sits in the middle: 262 of 475 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Montana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $54,770 the take-home is $44,370; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $49,167 would nationally. The average comes to $55,250, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Montana ranks 44 of 45 for transportation security screeners, with a median of $54,770 — about 17.97% 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.
- Transportation security screeners ranks 262 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.
- Post-tax income for transportation security screeners in Montana, on $54,770, is $44,370 — equivalent to $49,167 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $55,250 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,450 |
| This salary | $54,770 |
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 | $44,370 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,188 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,637 |
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 | $52,508 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,979 |
| 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 transportation security screeners in Montana earn under $54,770 and half over. The published range runs $40,090 at the tenth percentile to $69,450 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 $44,370, worked from $54,770. 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 262 of 475.
- One number stands for prices across all of Montana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $49,167, the adjusted value of that $54,770 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 262 of 475 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for transportation security screeners in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,090 to $69,450; 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 $44,370, on $54,770 for work ranking 262 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 262 of 475 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Montana, so $49,167 — the adjusted value of that $54,770 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 262 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,090 and the top tenth $69,450, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Montana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $49,167 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $44,370 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,090 to $69,450) 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 $49,167 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 $44,370 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.