Median pay · Montana
$51,530A year, or $25 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $44,230 | $21 |
| 25th percentile | $47,750 | $23 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $51,530 | $25 |
| 75th percentile | $58,220 | $28 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $76,680 | $37 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $56,230 | $27 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in MontanaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$51,530
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$24.77
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$3,493 a month at an effective rate of 18.7%.$41,919 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Montana sit at 94.6 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$54,446
- Against the national medianThe national median is $73,710.30.1% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 2.62 against the nation's 1.00.110
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $51,530 in Montana, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $51,530 is worth in Montana
Prices in Montana sit at 94.6 against a national average of 100, so $51,530 earned here buys what $54,446 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 84.6 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in Montana takes in $72,509, so this occupation's median is 0.71 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 162% more concentrated in Montana than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for music directors and composers in Montana
Montana ranks 27 of 28 states by median pay for music directors and composers, among the lowest-paying in the country.
Music directors and composers hold 2.6 times the share of jobs in Montana that they hold nationally, with 110 counted.
The median in Montana is 30.1% below the national median of $73,710.
Pay is tightly grouped: the 90th percentile ($76,680) is only 1.7 times the 10th ($44,230), so most music directors and composers here earn within a narrow band.
Common questions
Music Directors and Composers pay in Montana, answered
How much do music directors and composers make in Montana?
The median wage for music directors and composers in Montana is $51,530 a year, or $24.77 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average Music Directors and Composers salary in Montana?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for music directors and composers in Montana is $56,230 a year. The median is $51,530.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the hourly pay for music directors and composers in Montana?
The median hourly wage is $24.77. At a full-time year that lines up with about $51,530 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for music directors and composers in Montana?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Montana, the lowest-paid 10% of music directors and composers earn under $44,230 a year and a quarter earn under $47,750 ($21.26 and $22.96 an hour).
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for music directors and composers in Montana?
The overall salary range for music directors and composers in Montana spans from $44,230 for the bottom 10% to $76,680 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $47,750 and $58,220 a year, with the overall median at $51,530.
What is the take-home pay for music directors and composers in Montana?
On the median wage of $51,530, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $41,919 a year, or roughly $3,493 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 18.7%.
Montana takes $1,665 of it in state income tax.
How much does music directors and composers make a month in Montana?
On the median annual salary of $51,530, estimated take-home pay is roughly $3,493 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $1,612 net.
Do music directors and composers earn more in Montana than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in Montana is 30.1% below the national median of $73,710.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Montana sit at 94.6 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $51,530 a good salary in Montana?
It is 0.71 times the median household income of $72,509. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Montana run at 94.6 against a national average of 100, with rents at 84.6, so $51,530 here buys about what $54,446 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid music directors and composers earn in Montana?
The top tenth earn $76,680 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $44,230.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Montana someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many music directors and composers are there in Montana?
The survey counted 110 of these jobs in Montana for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 162% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.