Economist Explains Why Montana Wages Are So Low, and What Needs to Change

A recent report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse placed Montana just one spot from the bottom of all states for wages. It’s hard news for Montanans to hear, but Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research Director Patrick Barkey says it’s nothing new.

"The first thing I'll say, is that that is a pretty consistent ranking," Barkey said. "We've been there for at least 15 years, there are different ways of measuring income: per capita income, average wages per job... but they all come up with pretty much the same story."

Barkey says Montana doesn’t have a good mix of the higher paying industries such as finance and professional services. Another major setback is the fact that typically high paying industries, pay less in Montana than other states.

"In everything from health care, to even manufacturing, to some extent, Montana jobs pay less than the average for those industries," Barkey said. "The reason is, mostly because the kinds of jobs that people have in Montana tend to have less responsibility, less impact of decisions, less of the kinds of things that typically go towards making more money."

Barkey said there is good news for Montana. Wages are growing and benefits are going up, they’re just not going up fast enough to outpace other states.