Last checked October 30, 2026.
Pick one of 26 Montana towns, set your rent and your car, and see the salary you need before taxes. With the defaults below, a single person renting their own 1-bedroom needs about $36,000 a year in Lewistown, $46,700 in Billings and $60,300 in Bozeman, saving 10% of pay.
| Monthly spending | |
| Yearly spending | |
| Federal income tax | |
| Montana income tax | |
| Social Security and Medicare | |
| Savings | |
| Gross salary |
Estimate only, not tax advice. Assumes a single filer with W-2 wages, the 2026 federal standard deduction and brackets, Montana’s 2026 rates (4.7% and 5.65%), Social Security and Medicare, and no pre-tax retirement contributions or credits. Montana has no sales tax outside its resort towns, so none is added. Defaults are starting points: replace them with your own numbers.
How the calculator works
It adds up your monthly costs, multiplies by 12, then finds the gross salary that covers that amount after 2026 federal income tax, Montana income tax (4.7% and 5.65%), Social Security and Medicare, and your savings rate. Montana’s income tax starts from your federal taxable income, so the federal standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer) lowers both taxes. More on Montana income tax.
Where the default numbers come from
| Cost | Default | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | Varies by town | Where listing sites publish usable figures: the average of Zumper, RentCafe and Apartments.com asking rents, 2026. Where they don’t (Hamilton, Polson, Dillon, Livingston, Red Lodge, West Yellowstone, Laurel, Glasgow, Wolf Point, Sidney and Glendive): the Census median rent actually paid, 2020–2024, which includes utilities, so the utilities line starts at $0 for those towns. Census rents run below what a new renter is usually quoted. Each town page shows the separate figures. |
| Utilities and heating | $0–$213 | Montana Public Service Commission 2026 rate summary (typical 750 kWh electric and 100 therm gas bills, May 2026); Flathead Electric Co-op rates for the Flathead Valley |
| Car, paid off | $441 | Insurance $214 (average of NerdWallet and Experian full-coverage averages); gas $140 (800 miles a month at 25 mpg and AAA’s Montana average of $4.36, Oct 29, 2026); registration $7 (MVD fee for a 5–10 year old car, before any county option tax); upkeep $80 (our placeholder) |
| Groceries | $366 | USDA moderate-cost food plan, one adult aged 19–50, May 2026 (U.S. average) |
| Health insurance | $107 | Average 2026 Montana marketplace premium after subsidy, per healthinsurance.org citing CMS. That’s close to what workers with employer coverage pay: $1,440 a year, or $120 a month, on average for single coverage in 2025 (KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey). If you buy your own plan and earn too much for a large subsidy, budget much more: the 2026 benchmark plan for a 40-year-old is $692 a month before subsidy (KFF). |
| Eating out, phone and internet, renters insurance, shopping and fun | $150, $130, $15, $250 | Our placeholders. Replace them with your own. |
Worked example: Billings
With every default for Billings (your own 1-bedroom, a paid-off car, saving 10%), the calculator works like this:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Rent, average 1-bedroom asking rent, 2026 | $1,130 a month |
| Utilities (NorthWestern Energy electric + Montana-Dakota Utilities gas, May 2026) | $213 a month |
| Car, groceries, eating out, health insurance, phone, renters insurance, fun | $441 + $366 + $150 + $107 + $130 + $15 + $250 = $1,459 a month |
| Total spending | $2,802 a month, or $33,624 a year |
| Federal income tax (2026 brackets, $16,100 standard deduction) | $3,429 a year |
| Montana income tax (4.7% on federal taxable income) | $1,440 a year |
| Social Security and Medicare (7.65%) | $3,576 a year |
| Savings (10% of gross pay) | $4,674 a year |
| Gross salary needed | $46,744 a year (about $22.47 an hour) |
In words: gross pay minus federal tax, Montana tax, Social Security and Medicare, and savings must equal yearly spending. The calculator finds that gross pay by trying values until the two match (to within a dollar). Results are rounded to the nearest dollar; elsewhere on the site we round them to the nearest $100.
What it leaves out
- Married couples, children and childcare. Infant care at a Montana child care center averages about $15,080 a year (Child Care Aware).
- Pre-tax 401(k) or HSA contributions, which lower your taxes.
- Resort tax, which only applies in towns like Whitefish, Big Sky, West Yellowstone and Red Lodge. See the resort tax towns.