What is the real (cost-adjusted) Accountant salary in Montana?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.0 for Montana), the real-wage equivalent is $81,746 — what the $74,400 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $67,561 to $102,578.

How are Montana Accountant salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How many Accountants does Montana employ?

BLS OES counts 4,680 Accountants employed in Montana in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Where does Montana rank for Accountant pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Montana ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

How wide is the wage spread in Montana?

P10 to P90 spans $48,730 to $121,140. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

What are the limits of these Accountant salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Public accounting vs industry vs government in Montana — which pays more?

Public accounting (Big 4 / regional firm audit + tax) typically pays 10-15% below industry corporate-accountant pay at the staff/senior level, then crosses over at manager and above as billable-hour leverage compounds. Government accountants in {state} (state DOR, federal IRS/GAO, municipal) usually trail both private paths on base pay but lead on pension and job security. Industry controller/CFO-track roles in {state} push toward the BLS P75-P90 band.

How Much Do Accountants Make in Montana? $74K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

BLS reports Montana Accountant median pay at $74,400. Adjusted for state cost of living, real purchasing power equals $81,746.
Wage envelope: $48,730 (P10) to $121,140 (P90), with quartiles at $61,490 and $93,360.
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $7,346 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
Nominal: #39/51 · Real: #29/51 — ranking shifts by 10 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — Montana

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$48,730	$53,541
P25 (lower quartile)	$61,490	$67,561
P50 (median)	$74,400	$81,746
P75 (upper quartile)	$93,360	$102,578
P90 (top tier)	$121,140	$133,100
Mean	$80,040	$87,943
Employment	4,680 Accountants in Montana

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Montana index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	91.0
Goods	96.5
Services	72.8
Rents	76.8

Montana sits below the national baseline (RPP 91.0), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 76.8.

After-tax take-home — Montana (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Accountant)	$74,400	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$7,615	10.2% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$3,282	4.7–5.9% (2 brackets)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$5,692	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$57,811	77.7% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$63,519	÷ (91.0 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Montana state-tax burden means for Accountant take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.4% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $57,811 (77.7% of gross). After the 91.0 RPP, real take-home is $63,519.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $81,680 for Accountants with mean pay of $93,520 and total employment of 1,448,290. Montana sits at #39 on nominal pay and #29 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Montana climbs 10 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Accountant salary in Montana?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.0 for Montana), the real-wage equivalent is $81,746 — what the $74,400 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $67,561 to $102,578.
How are Montana Accountant salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How many Accountants does Montana employ?: BLS OES counts 4,680 Accountants employed in Montana in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Where does Montana rank for Accountant pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Montana ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
How wide is the wage spread in Montana?: P10 to P90 spans $48,730 to $121,140. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
What are the limits of these Accountant salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Public accounting vs industry vs government in Montana — which pays more?: Public accounting (Big 4 / regional firm audit + tax) typically pays 10-15% below industry corporate-accountant pay at the staff/senior level, then crosses over at manager and above as billable-hour leverage compounds. Government accountants in {state} (state DOR, federal IRS/GAO, municipal) usually trail both private paths on base pay but lead on pension and job security. Industry controller/CFO-track roles in {state} push toward the BLS P75-P90 band.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 13-2011, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Montana Accountant pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.