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Montana Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Montana take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and any local taxes for 2026.

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Quick answer

Montana taxes wages on a two-bracket schedule (4.7% up to $47,500 for a single filer, 5.65% above), with distinct Head of Household brackets layered on. At $85,000 single, the after-tax estimate is $65,101 per year. The state also collects no general sales tax, which is structurally unusual among US states.

Montana applies a two-bracket schedule to wages: 4.7% up to $47,500 of taxable income for a single filer, and 5.65% above that. House Bill 337, enacted in 2025, is what sets those numbers for 2026. It cut the top rate and widened the lower band substantially, so more income now falls in the 4.7% bracket than in prior years. The two-bracket structure itself dates to SB 399 (2021), which replaced an older multi-bracket ladder. Montana also publishes distinct Head of Household brackets, so HoH filers get their own state-side ladder. Its broader tax mix is unusual on a separate point: Montana collects no statewide general sales tax, so wage earners meet state-side burden through the income line plus local property tax. No SDI program, no paid-leave deduction, and no city wage tax applies. At $85,000 for a single filer, federal income tax lands at $9,870, state income tax at $3,526, combined FICA at $6,503, and take-home for the year at $65,101. The effective total rate is 23.41%.

Montana state tax breakdown

Single-filer state income tax brackets used by the calculator for 2026.

Taxable IncomeRate
$0 - $47,5004.7%
$47,500+5.65%

vs. baseline ($85,000 single filer)

A $85,000 salary in Montana takes home approximately $3,500 less than the same salary in a no-income-tax state like Texas or Florida.

What else comes out of a Montana paycheck?

Montana administers no payroll program of its own, so no SDI, TDI or paid-leave line appears on the stub. No jurisdiction in Montana levies a local income tax, so that line stays at zero wherever in the state you work. One reciprocity agreement covers Montana residents: work in North Dakota and ND Form NDW-R stops its withholding, leaving those wages to Montana alone. It covers state income tax only, never a work-state city tax. All of this is withholding, not a final bill. What comes out each period follows your W-4, and the return you file settles the difference, refunding an over-collection or billing a shortfall.

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Montana take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security at the federal rate up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), Montana's state income tax schedule above, and any local income tax or state-administered payroll program (SDI, PFML, FAMLI) when you select a city or county. For states with no broad-based personal income tax, the state line is zero. It excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Montana paycheck FAQ

What is the federal tax bill on $85,000 single in Montana for 2026?
A $85,000 single filer in Montana owes approximately $9,870 in federal income tax, with the top slice of taxable income inside the 22% bracket after the standard deduction. Federal mechanics apply uniformly across the country, so a Montana resident sees the same federal line as a Wyoming or North Dakota counterpart at this gross.
How much Montana state tax does someone owe on $85,000?
Montana state income tax at $85,000 for a single filer comes to $3,526, an effective state rate of 4.15%. The two-bracket schedule (4.7% up to $47,500, 5.65% above) puts this gross in the upper bracket, so the marginal rate here is 5.65%. No SDI applies, and no Montana city or county adds a wage tax.
Do Billings, Missoula, or any other Montana city tax wages?
Cities and counties in Montana do not levy a separate income tax on wages. Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Helena, Great Falls, and Kalispell residents all see the same state line on the pay stub under Montana's two-bracket schedule. Local revenue runs on property tax and modest resort-area assessments in towns like Whitefish and Big Sky, not on payroll withholding.
How much does a 401(k) contribution save at $85,000 in Montana?
At $85,000 single in Montana, the combined marginal rate is 27.65% (federal 22% plus Montana's 5.65% upper-bracket rate). Pre-tax 401(k) or HSA contributions trim federal and Montana taxable income at that combined rate. Above the $47,500 threshold, which this gross clears, each pre-tax dollar shifts at the same combined rate.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Montana?
Filing jointly at $85,000 in Montana produces take-home of about $70,035, roughly $4,934 more than the single estimate. Wider federal MFJ brackets and the doubled federal standard deduction drive most of the change; Montana's two-bracket schedule places the upper 5.65% threshold at $95,000 for MFJ vs $47,500 for Single, so a larger slice of household income clears at 4.7% state-side. Head of Household lands at about $68,241, around $3,140 more than Single. Montana publishes a distinct HoH schedule with the upper bracket starting at $71,250, between Single and MFJ, so HoH gets both federal and state-side movement. Married Filing Separately uses Montana's Single schedule; combined two-return take-home runs roughly $4,934 less than MFJ.
How does Montana compare to Wyoming at $85,000?
Wyoming taxes wage income at zero, so a Wyoming resident at $85,000 keeps roughly $3,526 more per year than a Montana counterpart on the same gross. The gap is structurally clean: Wyoming runs on mineral severance taxes and adds no income line, while Montana's two-bracket schedule fills part of that revenue role. Federal tax and FICA are identical.

Take-home at common salaries for Montana

Dedicated salary-anchor pages with a federal-state-FICA breakdown, vs-baseline callouts, and a calculator pre-set to that salary and Montana.

$50,000 after taxesin Montana$75,000 after taxesin Montana$100,000 after taxesin Montana$150,000 after taxesin Montana$200,000 after taxesin Montana$250,000 after taxesin Montana

See also

Run the full US paycheck calculatorWyoming take-home, for comparisonHow the same salary lands in South DakotaCompare to the North Dakota paycheck calculatorRun the same numbers against IdahoPaid hourly in Montana? Check the per-check numberMontana bonus and supplemental wage withholdingSet dependents and multiple jobs on a Montana W-4Put two states side by sidePlain-English glossary of paycheck termsThe math behind these numbers

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Montana paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal and state sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-07-24