Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,207
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$17,643
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,824
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
$78,850
Kept after tax
$61,207
Worth in national money
$67,824
State rank
19
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Montana is 19 of 47 states for zoologists and wildlife biologists, with a middle wage of $78,850. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Montana. It ranks 109 out of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $78,850 you keep $61,207 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,824 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $78,740.
- Montana ranks 19 of 47 for zoologists and wildlife biologists at $78,850. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Montana, zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 109 of 475 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Montana is $61,207 after the full tax stack, from $78,850. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,824 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $78,740 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,100 |
| This salary | $78,850 |
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 | $61,207 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,301 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,653 |
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 | $74,452 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,284 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,850 as a midpoint for Montana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,540 and the ninetieth is $96,100 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Montana's $61,207, worked from $78,850. 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 109 of 475.
- Two cautions on $67,824, the adjusted value of that $78,850 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 109 of 475 locally.
- The Montana median of $78,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,540 to $96,100. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Montana take-home of $61,207, on $78,850 for work ranking 109 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 109 of 475 in the state.
- This $67,824 adjusted figure, worked from $78,850, 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 109 of 475 in the state. The occupation ranks 109 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $62,540 and the top tenth $96,100, so most people doing this work in Montana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $67,824.
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, $61,207 remains.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($62,540 to $96,100) 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 $67,824 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 $61,207 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.