Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Montana scores 94.6 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $70,984 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Montana (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 94.6 | 30th of 51 |
| Rents | 84.6 | 28th of 51 |
| Goods | 96.0 | — |
| Other services | 98.7 | — |
Home electricity averaged 12.66 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.39 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 511,580 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Montana, the median pay is $48,740 a year, or $23.43 an hour; that ranks 30th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $29,390 and one in ten more than $100,610.
Montana taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 5.65%. The brackets in Montana. A single filer on the median $48,740, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $39,040 a year, or $1,502 every two weeks, after $3,669 of federal income tax, $3,729 of Social Security and Medicare and $2,303 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Montana.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 14,960 | $29,090 |
| Retail Salespersons | 13,490 | $36,270 |
| Cashiers | 12,170 | $34,190 |
| General and Operations Managers | 11,840 | $91,380 |
| Registered Nurses | 10,950 | $85,280 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are general and operations managers ($91,380), registered nurses ($85,280), business operations specialists, all other ($74,990). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 56 Montana counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $295,183, and across the 13 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,524 a month. A typical home costs 3.68 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $2,351 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $100,762 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 26.8% of Montana's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +4.0% over the past year and +32.3% over five years, and rents +3.2% over the past year.
The most expensive Montana counties are Madison County ($761,154), Gallatin County ($701,493) and Flathead County ($652,673); the least expensive are Prairie County ($131,533), Roosevelt County ($153,630) and Glacier County ($166,656).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Montana county, that comes to $51,262 a year for one adult and $118,285 for two adults and two children, of which $20,795 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $80,276.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $15,168 | $1,264 |
| Food | $12,300 | $1,025 |
| Transportation | $21,215 | $1,768 |
| Healthcare | $20,648 | $1,721 |
| Childcare | $20,795 | $1,733 |
| Other necessities | $8,493 | $708 |
| Taxes | $20,458 | $1,705 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 28 colleges in Montana, 19 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $16,621 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $41,951. Compare degrees and schools.
| Beaverhead County | $406,220 | +3.5% | — | $77,135 | $112,759 |
| Big Horn County | $225,479 | +1.2% | — | $64,275 | $118,838 |
| Blaine County | $216,940 | +2.5% | — | $79,676 | $114,244 |
| Broadwater County | $533,765 | +0.6% | — | $80,551 | $135,895 |
| Carbon County | $518,743 | +4.4% | — | $89,542 | $114,011 |
| Carter County | $175,863 | −10.0% | — | $63,924 | $119,213 |
| Cascade County | $344,153 | +3.3% | $1,381 | $84,338 | $112,903 |
| Chouteau County | $316,916 | +11.2% | — | $82,725 | $119,190 |
| Custer County | $253,415 | +9.0% | $850 | $90,000 | $127,257 |
| Daniels County | $179,310 | +4.9% | — | $86,023 | $111,054 |
| Dawson County | $204,877 | +5.7% | — | $84,806 | $117,591 |
| Deer Lodge County | $296,403 | +3.1% | $1,110 | $70,200 | $110,454 |
| Fallon County | $194,474 | +7.0% | — | $115,735 | $124,771 |
| Fergus County | $298,785 | +7.2% | — | $83,538 | $120,631 |
| Flathead County | $652,673 | +1.2% | $1,965 | $87,536 | $122,864 |
| Gallatin County | $701,493 | 0.0% | $2,191 | $111,714 | $139,122 |
| Garfield County | $330,280 | +20.5% | — | $77,083 | $116,878 |
| Glacier County | $166,656 | −1.0% | — | $55,789 | $115,003 |
| Golden Valley County | $238,065 | +12.0% | — | $69,444 | $127,717 |
| Granite County | $475,901 | +2.3% | — | $72,596 | $118,191 |
| Hill County | $239,542 | +6.6% | $1,092 | $76,083 | $113,918 |
| Jefferson County | $531,271 | +4.4% | — | $97,578 | $126,560 |
| Judith Basin County | $302,709 | +4.7% | — | $82,500 | $118,379 |
| Lake County | $603,585 | +1.5% | $1,524 | $76,688 | $117,740 |
| Lewis and Clark County | $472,725 | +3.0% | $1,606 | $99,043 | $121,513 |
| Liberty County | $221,101 | +2.1% | — | $60,833 | $111,827 |
| Lincoln County | $431,764 | 0.0% | — | $61,328 | $115,697 |
| Madison County | $761,154 | +2.5% | — | $80,000 | $133,667 |
| McCone County | $251,210 | +7.9% | — | $88,882 | $127,532 |
| Meagher County | $320,168 | −2.2% | — | $73,500 | $124,472 |
| Mineral County | $398,828 | +0.4% | — | $70,800 | $122,654 |
| Missoula County | $580,196 | +1.3% | $1,559 | $96,619 | $121,765 |
| Musselshell County | $246,694 | −0.7% | — | $67,021 | $113,713 |
| Park County | $612,388 | +1.3% | $1,525 | $93,125 | $127,805 |
| Petroleum County | $201,284 | −0.7% | — | $78,750 | $127,857 |
| Phillips County | $221,495 | +4.0% | — | $75,532 | $108,682 |
| Pondera County | $271,432 | +11.3% | — | $73,920 | $116,702 |
| Powder River County | $293,962 | +11.7% | — | $98,958 | $116,778 |
| Powell County | $339,821 | +5.5% | — | $70,764 | $113,113 |
| Prairie County | $131,533 | +3.1% | — | $69,545 | $128,387 |
| Ravalli County | $603,900 | +0.4% | $1,815 | $86,256 | $124,866 |
| Richland County | $283,949 | +6.2% | — | $87,353 | $120,873 |
| Roosevelt County | $153,630 | +11.6% | — | $65,000 | $115,926 |
| Rosebud County | $235,738 | +1.5% | — | $66,771 | $115,556 |
| Sanders County | $465,981 | +4.1% | — | $65,365 | $116,393 |
| Sheridan County | $181,424 | +10.1% | — | $91,154 | $122,124 |
| Silver Bow County | $288,837 | +4.8% | $1,409 | $78,288 | $117,424 |
| Stillwater County | $496,521 | +10.4% | — | $101,688 | $118,627 |
| Sweet Grass County | $487,298 | +9.6% | — | $88,287 | $110,387 |
| Teton County | $366,826 | +9.1% | — | $82,873 | $124,738 |
| Toole County | $187,712 | +1.7% | — | $78,750 | $113,344 |
| Treasure County | $238,534 | +12.2% | — | $84,625 | $133,290 |
| Valley County | $194,467 | +8.9% | — | $87,909 | $116,434 |
| Wheatland County | $184,286 | +9.1% | — | $62,321 | $118,120 |
| Wibaux County | $234,527 | +12.4% | — | $88,438 | $133,108 |
| Yellowstone County | $407,038 | +2.3% | $1,429 | $94,167 | $113,866 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
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County figures are medians across Montana's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.