Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $59K, rent takes 28.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,129/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors typically earn — is $37K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,210/month. At HUD’s $1,129/month FMR, rent would take 51% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $59K locally vs. $59K nationally, a 1% difference.

Montana pays $59K median vs. the U.S. average of $59K — that’s -1%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 97), the purchasing-power equivalent is $61K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $59,000 a year, that works out to about $28 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $36,840, and experienced substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors can clear $83,640. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,923/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,129/month, which eats 28.8% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Montana has a Regional Price Parity of 97 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors salary is worth about $60,825 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.