Dental Hygienist Salary in Montana: What Dental Hygienists Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$94,460
Median (50th)
$98,440
75th percentile
$100,920
National median
$98,100
BLS OEWS (SOC 29-1292), May 2025
What does a dental hygienist make in Montana?
The median dental hygienist in Montana earns $98,440 a year ($47.33 an hour), which is $340 above the national median of $98,100, and more than in nearby Idaho ($94,650), South Dakota ($92,210) and North Dakota ($90,530). The mean is $96,730.
That ranks 19th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental hygienist median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Montana
The middle half of Montana dental hygienists earn $94,460 to $100,920. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $83,060, $8,180 above the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $104,780, $21,270 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Montana
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Montana's 2024 price level at 94.6 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 5.4% below the national average, and housing (index 84.6) runs 15.4% below.
Converted to national average prices, the $98,440 median is worth about $104,010 — $5,910 above the national median of $98,100.
How many dental hygienists work in Montana
BLS counts about 860 dental hygienist jobs in Montana, 0.4% of the 222,740 nationwide, or 1.678 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental hygienists hold a 17% larger share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 1.17).
Dental Hygienist Salary by City in Montana
Across the 5 Montana metro areas where BLS publishes a dental hygienist median, pay runs from $94,460 in Great Falls to $104,650 in Bozeman, a spread of $10,190.
Who's hiring dental hygienists in Montana now
DentistryHires has 10 open dental hygienist listings in Montana from 9 employers, led by Billings, Kalispell and Missoula (2 each).
8 post hourly pay, from $37 to $57 an hour. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Hygienist Regulatory Context in Montana
Dental hygienist practice in Montana is regulated by the Montana Board of Dentistry.
Scope of practice — what a dental hygienist may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Montana Compares
Other dental salaries in Montana
- Dentist salary in Montana: median $167,200, $68,760 above the dental hygienist median
- Dental Assistant salary in Montana: median $46,680, $51,760 below the dental hygienist median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Montana: median $47,560, $50,880 below the dental hygienist median
- Orthodontist salary in Montana: median $312,840
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.