Medical assistant jobs in Montana

The typical medical assistant earns $46,820 a year, which comes to $22.51 an hour. Half of medical assistants earn below that figure and half earn more, which makes it a good snapshot of a typical paycheck. It sits a little above the US median of $45,690. Among all 50 states plus Washington, DC, Montana places 19th for pay, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Pay in Montana stays in a fairly tight range. The middle half of medical assistants in Montana earns somewhere between $40,900 and $48,960. At the bottom, one in ten earns $38,670 or under, while one in ten at the top earns $56,770 or more.

Your earnings also depend on the role you train toward. Here are US median pay figures for May 2025, so you can compare a medical assistant role with related clinic work.

Around 5 metro areas hold most medical assistant positions across Montana. A metro area covers a central city plus nearby communities where people commute to work. Billings and Missoula each employ about 400 people in this field, and Bozeman leads the group of 5 with a median salary of $46,980, according to BLS data.

• Billings: about 400 medical assistant jobs, median pay $46,500 a year
• Missoula: about 400 medical assistant jobs, median pay $46,520 a year
• Bozeman: 340 medical assistant jobs, median pay $46,980 a year
• Great Falls: 210 medical assistant jobs, median pay $46,840 a year
• Helena: 160 medical assistant jobs, median pay $45,760 a year

Montana has roughly 2,460 medical assistants altogether, which is 4.8 out of every 1,000 jobs in the state. That is a smaller workforce than most states have, and Montana comes in at 44 of 51 for the total number of medical assistant jobs. Montana is a smaller job market, but medical assistant jobs are spread across Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls and Helena.

Yes, it is. According to Montana's labor agency, medical assistant employment is projected to increase from 2,400 jobs in 2024 to 2,750 in 2034. This comes to 14.3% growth, which outpaces the US projection of 12.5%. For growth, Montana ranks 27 out of 51, according to Projections Central.

Growth tells only part of the story. The state expects about 340 openings each year, including brand new roles and positions left behind when workers change careers or retire. Since the field is fairly small, Montana places 46 of 51 in yearly openings. That still means a few hundred openings come up every year.

Not every state names medical assistants in its rules, but Montana does. A physician, physician assistant or podiatrist can assign you tasks they remain responsible for, provided your training covers those duties. They also have to document who carried out each task, so your name appears on the record for your work. When a task carries more risk, the provider must be present on site. You also need a name badge reading Medical Assistant. Performing x-rays is handled separately and requires a limited permit issued by the board, as set out in Montana's administrative rules.

Certification is not something the state demands for employment. Providers do need to be sure you received training for the task at hand. Completing an accredited program is one way to show your training.

The site identifies 4 Montana schools that report graduate numbers to the federal college survey. None of the 4 schools holds CAAHEP or ABHES accreditation. An outside organization reviews accredited programs to confirm they cover the knowledge a medical assistant needs. Nationally, 484 of the 1,094 listed programs carry accreditation, according to CAAHEP.

None of Montana's 4 schools is accredited, but 14 of the 30 programs you can take by distance education are. You do the classes online, and the supervised clinical practice happens in person. That part means working with actual patients in a clinic setting.

Schools differ in both length and price. Among the 378 career schools that publish this information, the median program runs 9 months. Programs range from 2 months at the shortest to 32 months at the longest. At career schools, the median published price for the entire program, counting tuition, fees and books, is $17,257. For public colleges, one year of in-district tuition and fees has a median of $4,346, from federal college data. Of the listed schools, 1,049 take part in federal student aid programs.

Found an accredited program that fits? Choose it using the Request information form that appears after the program table, then add your name, email, phone, ZIP code and preferred start time, and your request goes straight to that one school.