- The middle half earn between $15.20 and $20.82 an hour.
- Montana ranks 20th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Montana pays more than 3 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,490 auto detailers on payrolls in Montana.
- At the state median wage, a detailing business needs to bill about $101.41 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Auto Detailer pay in Montana, bottom to top
BLS has no separate figure for auto detailers. These are its numbers for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, the group that holds auto detailers along with car wash attendants and equipment cleaners.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $14.10 | $29,330 | $13.17 |
| 25th percentile | $15.20 | $31,610 | $14.62 |
| Median | $17.55 | $36,510 | $17.23 |
| 75th percentile | $20.82 | $43,310 | $19.73 |
| 90th percentile | $22.50 | $46,800 | $22.89 |
| Average (mean) | $18.16 | $37,780 | $17.78 |
Pay is bunched up in Montana. The top tenth earn $22.50 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $14.10 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 1.7 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($14.10 against $13.17) but the ceiling is lower ($22.50 against $22.89), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $18.16, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Montana compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $36,510 in Montana against $35,830 nationally, $680 more.
In the state ranking, Montana sits 20th, between New Jersey ($17.83) and Maryland ($17.49). The range runs from $13.27 in Louisiana to $20.53 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Montana is in the middle: North Dakota pays more, and Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming pay less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Montana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | $17.55 | $36,510 | |
| Idaho | $17.13 | $35,640 | −$0.42 an hour |
| North Dakota | $17.93 | $37,290 | +$0.38 an hour |
| South Dakota | $16.85 | $35,050 | −$0.70 an hour |
| Wyoming | $16.29 | $33,890 | −$1.26 an hour |
How many auto detailers work in Montana
About 1,490 auto detailers work on payrolls in Montana, 0.4% of the 380,430 nationwide, the 40th largest count among the states.
That is 2.9 of every 1,000 jobs in Montana, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a detailing business in Montana should charge
Say you run a detailing business in Montana and pay the state median of $17.55 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $17.55 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $39,297 |
| Break-even rate | ($39,297 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $86.20 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $86.20 ÷ 0.85 | $101.41 |
That is $101.41 per billable hour, 5.8 times the wage, and almost the same as the $100.85 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $20.82 in Montana, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $107.15.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $15.20, the rate only drops to $97.28.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as an auto detailer in Montana
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how detailers run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 53-7061, cleaners of vehicles and equipment, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: auto detailer salary by state.