- The middle half earn between $23.98 and $27.53 an hour.
- Montana ranks 15th 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 250 crime scene cleaners on payrolls in Montana.
- At the state median wage, a biohazard cleaning business needs to bill about $116.64 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Crime Scene Cleaner pay in Montana, bottom to top
BLS has no figure for crime scene cleaners. These are its numbers for hazardous materials removal workers, the closest group, which includes decontamination workers along with asbestos and lead abatement crews. Treat them as a rough guide, not a measure of crime scene work itself.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $22.20 | $46,180 | $18.49 |
| 25th percentile | $23.98 | $49,870 | $21.50 |
| Median | $26.22 | $54,540 | $23.78 |
| 75th percentile | $27.53 | $57,260 | $29.58 |
| 90th percentile | $30.25 | $62,930 | $39.62 |
| Average (mean) | $26.28 | $54,660 | $27.13 |
Pay is bunched up in Montana. The top tenth earn $30.25 an hour or more, about 1.4 times the $22.20 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.1 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 ($22.20 against $18.49) but the ceiling is lower ($30.25 against $39.62), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $26.28, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Montana compares with other states
Over a full year, the Montana median of $54,540 is $5,090 more than the national $49,450.
In the state ranking, Montana sits 15th, between New Hampshire ($26.59) and New Mexico ($25.69). The range runs from $17.61 in Arkansas to $35.14 in New York.
Against its neighboring states, Montana is in the middle: North Dakota pays more, and Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Montana. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Montana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | $26.22 | $54,540 | |
| Idaho | $23.90 | $49,710 | −$2.32 an hour |
| North Dakota | $28.92 | $60,160 | +$2.70 an hour |
| South Dakota | $24.72 | $51,420 | −$1.50 an hour |
| Wyoming | $23.35 | $48,570 | −$2.87 an hour |
How many crime scene cleaners work in Montana
About 250 crime scene cleaners work on payrolls in Montana, 0.5% of the 51,710 nationwide, the 40th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Montana, 1.5 times the national share.
What a biohazard cleaning business in Montana should charge
Higher wages in Montana go straight into the price. Take a biohazard cleaning business in Montana paying the state median of $26.22 and run it through the labor rate calculator with 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 | $26.22 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $58,710 |
| Break-even rate | ($58,710 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $99.14 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $99.14 ÷ 0.85 | $116.64 |
That is $116.64 per billable hour, 4.4 times the wage, and $4.29 more than the $112.35 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $27.53 in Montana, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $118.94.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.98, the rate only drops to $112.70.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
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 47-4041, hazardous materials removal workers, 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: crime scene cleaner salary by state.