Bookkeeper salary in the West Montana nonmetro area

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

The middle half of bookkeepers in the West Montana nonmetro area earns $39,850–$53,580. The top tenth earns $64,250 or more, 1.9 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 $13,730 wide, against $15,280 across Montana and $17,950 nationally: employers in the West Montana nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $6,750 a year in pay and about $8,710 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $6,980 in pay. 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 West Montana nonmetro area, and the Montana statewide median of $47,270 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the West Montana nonmetro area

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $13,596 to the $46,830 median and brings it to $60,426 a year. 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 West Montana nonmetro area

Of the 14 roles we track in the West Montana nonmetro area, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($49,120) and customer support specialists ($43,420). Project Coordinator is the highest at $75,940.

Measured against the US median, bookkeepers rank #4 of the 14 roles we track in the West Montana nonmetro area (-7.6%), between medical administrative assistants (-6.2%) and accountants (-12.8%). The typical role here is at -14.7%, so, measured against the US, bookkeepers cost more in the West Montana nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Bookkeepers hold 19.9% of the jobs in these 14 roles in the West 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. No other area in Montana has as many bookkeepers, and 4 of the other 7 pay less.

the West Montana nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the West Montana nonmetro area is #190 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Montana, Williamsport and Colorado Springs pay just above the West Montana nonmetro area and Rapid City and Bloomington just below. All four are within $30 a year of the median in the West Montana nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

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