Legislator on list of best-paying jobs in Montana

Although Montana workers typically make just 90 cents an hour for every dollar earned by the average American, some jobs pay better here than in other states, according to a recent survey released by the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Billings Gazette

Some of those who fare the best are people handling dangerous explosives, legislators, carpet installers, real estate brokers, loggers, game wardens, oil and gas well workers, tree trimmers, boilermakers, stonemasons and butchers.

They are among employees with a median hourly wage at least 20 percent higher than their counterparts nationwide during 2001. The median wage is that point at which half of those in an occupation make more and half make less.

Still, only one in five occupations in Montana paid a median wage that is greater than the rest of the country in 2001, the latest year for which figures are available.

The survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics annually, sampled employers representing 574 occupations. The study looked only at workers covered by unemployment insurance, so the self-employed were not counted.

Explosive handlers, such as blasters, topped the list with an hourly wage of $28.88, which was 77 percent higher than the national median for that occupation.

Legislators were a close second, with their median hourly wage of $12.41 exceeding the U.S. rate by 76 percent.

Carpet installers came in third with $25.06 an hour, or 66 percent above the national median.

Real estate brokers; baggage porters and bellhops; tree fallers; property and real estate managers; game wardens; oil and gas roustabouts; and repairers of electric motors and power tools rounded out the top 10.

In all, 28 occupations in Montana have median incomes at least 20 percent above the national rates, and 31 others have pay between 10 percent and 20 percent higher than the country’s median.

Bob Rafferty, head of research and analysis for the Labor Department, said some of the Montana occupations may appear to do so much better because of a relatively small sample taken by the federal agency. If the sampling happens to catch those paying unusually high hourly salaries, the results can be more easily skewed than in a larger sample, he said.

But one reason some occupations in Montana truly do pay a higher median wage may be the tenure of the state’s work force, Rafferty said. The average age of a Montana worker is 37, two years more than the national average.

"Montana has older, more experienced workers, and that would show up in smaller specialty occupations," he said.

"The survey could hit in Montana on more long-term workers," Rafferty added. "Other states could have more entry-level workers surveyed, and that could drive wages down."

Those workers doing the worst when compared to their counterparts in other states were supervisors of firefighters, with a median hourly wage of $6.74, which is 74 percent less than the national wage of $25.68.

The $12.63 hourly salary of judges is just 30 percent of the national median wage, while gambling managers make 42 percent of those elsewhere.

Rafferty said the judicial pay probably reflects the relatively low salaries for Montana’s many city judges and justices of the peace. And managers of Montana casinos naturally would show poorly when wages are compared with those of casino managers in Las Vegas, he said.

Among those Montanans with pay matching the national median rates are hazardous material removal workers, construction laborers, electrical engineering technicians, furnace and kiln operators, and postal service workers.

Some occupations considered among the best-paying don’t have exorbitant hourly rates on a national scale.

For example, at $61.59 an hour, doctors considered general and family practitioners are 8 percent higher. Attorneys’ hourly pay of $27.39 is 36 percent below the national median.

Montana surgeons, for whom study compared annual pay, were at 97 percent of the national wage.

Elementary teachers, with a median yearly salary of $32,900, make 76 percent of the national rate. High school teachers get $30,340 a year, or 67 percent.

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