Bookkeeper salary in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area

Pay in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area against Montana and the US

The middle half of bookkeepers in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area earns $38,560–$51,590. The top tenth earns $59,980 or more, 2.0 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.1 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $13,030 wide, against $15,280 across Montana and $17,950 nationally: employers in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $7,200 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $5,830, or about $7,523 once benefits are added. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $50,670 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area, and the Montana statewide median of $47,270 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area

At the $45,760 median, a local hire costs about $59,045 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,285 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for bookkeepers we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area

Of the 14 roles we track in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area, this one ranks #11 by median pay, between administrative assistants ($46,060) and customer support specialists ($44,130). Project Coordinator is the highest at $102,060.

Measured against the US median, bookkeepers rank #9 of the 14 roles we track in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area (-9.7%), between medical administrative assistants (-6.7%) and office managers (-11.1%). The typical role here is at -6.4%, so, measured against the US, bookkeepers cost less in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Bookkeepers hold 19.0% of the jobs in these 14 roles in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area, 16.9% across Montana and 8.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Montana

Across the 8 areas of Montana with data for this job, the median runs from $45,760 in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area to $49,820 in Bozeman, a gap of $4,060 a year. All 6 areas in Montana with more bookkeepers than the Southwest Montana nonmetro area also pay more, among them the West Montana nonmetro area ($46,830) and Billings, MT ($47,830).

the Southwest Montana nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southwest Montana nonmetro area is #407 of 521 US areas for this job. The market is small, and its pay sits near the middle of the US range. Outside Montana, Macon-Bibb County and Cape Girardeau pay just above the Southwest Montana nonmetro area and Springfield and Wilmington just below. All four are within $50 a year of the median in the Southwest Montana nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, all three pay more.

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Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.