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

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.0 for Montana), the real-wage equivalent is $75,791 — what the $68,980 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $60,408 to $86,294.

What does the top of the Electrician pay scale look like in Montana?

The 90th percentile lands at $85,520. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $78,540.

Why is the BEA RPP for Montana different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Montana's overall index of 91.0 reflects rents 76.8, services 72.8, and goods 96.5.

Where does Montana rank for Electrician 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.

What are the limits of these Electrician 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.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Montana?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Montana.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Electrician Pay in Montana: $69K Median + Purchasing Power (2026)

TL;DR

Montana pays Electricians a BLS median of $68,980 — the more useful number is $75,791, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
Electrician ranking: #18 on the BLS table, #12 once cost of living is in.
Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $6,811.
Bottom quartile $54,980, top quartile $78,540. The P90 ($85,520) is roughly 1.8× the P10 ($48,030).

Wage breakdown — Montana

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$48,030	$52,772
P25 (lower quartile)	$54,980	$60,408
P50 (median)	$68,980	$75,791
P75 (upper quartile)	$78,540	$86,294
P90 (top tier)	$85,520	$93,964
Mean	$68,080	$74,802
Employment	2,830 Electricians 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 (Electrician)	$68,980	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$6,423	9.3% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,962	4.7–5.9% (2 brackets)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$5,277	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$54,318	78.7% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$59,681	÷ (91.0 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

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

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.3% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $54,318 (78.7% of gross). After the 91.0 RPP, real take-home is $59,681.

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 $62,350 for Electricians with mean pay of $69,630 and total employment of 742,580. Montana sits at #18 on nominal pay and #12 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Montana climbs 6 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Electrician salary in Montana?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.0 for Montana), the real-wage equivalent is $75,791 — what the $68,980 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $60,408 to $86,294.
What does the top of the Electrician pay scale look like in Montana?: The 90th percentile lands at $85,520. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $78,540.
Why is the BEA RPP for Montana different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Montana's overall index of 91.0 reflects rents 76.8, services 72.8, and goods 96.5.
Where does Montana rank for Electrician 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.
What are the limits of these Electrician 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.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Montana?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Montana.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 47-2111, 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 Electrician 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.