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

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.0 for Montana), the real-wage equivalent is $110,697 — what the $100,750 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $77,164 to $140,110.

How are Montana Lawyer 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.

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.

How wide is the wage spread in Montana?

P10 to P90 spans $56,180 to $192,280. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

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.

Does the BLS lawyer median include partner profit-share in Montana?

No — BLS OEWS captures W-2 wage and salary income only. Equity-partner distributions at law firms are reported on K-1 (partnership income), not W-2, and are excluded entirely. In Montana BigLaw and major regional firms, this means the BLS-reported median understates total compensation for the partnership tier substantially: P90 partner draw often runs 3-10× the BLS-reported P90 once profits-per-equity-partner are factored in. The BLS figure on this page accurately represents salaried associates, of-counsel, and staff attorneys; it does not represent equity-partner income.

BigLaw associate vs in-house vs government vs solo practice in Montana?

BLS aggregates all lawyers (23-1011) regardless of practice setting. In Montana, BigLaw and major-market AmLaw 100/200 associates earn at or above BLS P90 on the published Cravath-adjacent pay scale plus year-end bonuses. In-house counsel at established companies sits mid-band with stronger work-life economics. Government attorneys (state AG, public defender, DOJ, federal agencies in Montana) typically earn at or below BLS median, with PSLF loan-forgiveness eligibility partly compensating. Solo and small-firm practitioners are highly bimodal — successful niche practices in Montana can exceed BigLaw associate pay; struggling solos earn below the median.

Montana Lawyer Salary 2026 — BLS Median $101K, Real Take-Home $111K

TL;DR

BLS reports Montana Lawyer median pay at $100,750. Adjusted for state cost of living, real purchasing power equals $110,697.
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $9,947 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
BLS percentile breakdown: P10 $56,180 · P25 $70,230 · P75 $127,520 · P90 $192,280.
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #43 of 51; nominal rank is #44.

Wage breakdown — Montana

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$56,180	$61,727
P25 (lower quartile)	$70,230	$77,164
P50 (median)	$100,750	$110,697
P75 (upper quartile)	$127,520	$140,110
P90 (top tier)	$192,280	$211,264
Mean	$109,190	$119,971
Employment	2,460 Lawyers 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 (Lawyer)	$100,750	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$13,412	13.3% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$4,837	4.7–5.9% (2 brackets)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$7,707	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$74,794	74.2% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$82,178	÷ (91.0 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

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

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.8% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $74,794 (74.2% of gross). After the 91.0 RPP, real take-home is $82,178.

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 $151,160 for Lawyers with mean pay of $182,760 and total employment of 747,750. Montana sits at #44 on nominal pay and #43 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Montana climbs 1 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Lawyer salary in Montana?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 91.0 for Montana), the real-wage equivalent is $110,697 — what the $100,750 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $77,164 to $140,110.
How are Montana Lawyer 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.
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.
How wide is the wage spread in Montana?: P10 to P90 spans $56,180 to $192,280. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
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.
Does the BLS lawyer median include partner profit-share in Montana?: No — BLS OEWS captures W-2 wage and salary income only. Equity-partner distributions at law firms are reported on K-1 (partnership income), not W-2, and are excluded entirely. In Montana BigLaw and major regional firms, this means the BLS-reported median understates total compensation for the partnership tier substantially: P90 partner draw often runs 3-10× the BLS-reported P90 once profits-per-equity-partner are factored in. The BLS figure on this page accurately represents salaried associates, of-counsel, and staff attorneys; it does not represent equity-partner income.
BigLaw associate vs in-house vs government vs solo practice in Montana?: BLS aggregates all lawyers (23-1011) regardless of practice setting. In Montana, BigLaw and major-market AmLaw 100/200 associates earn at or above BLS P90 on the published Cravath-adjacent pay scale plus year-end bonuses. In-house counsel at established companies sits mid-band with stronger work-life economics. Government attorneys (state AG, public defender, DOJ, federal agencies in Montana) typically earn at or below BLS median, with PSLF loan-forgiveness eligibility partly compensating. Solo and small-firm practitioners are highly bimodal — successful niche practices in Montana can exceed BigLaw associate pay; struggling solos earn below the median.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 23-1011, 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 2026-05-07.

Cross-comparison: see how Montana Lawyer 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.