Maintenance Technicians in the Helena area earn a median of $46,430 a year, 4% below the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #261 of 393 metros for maintenance technician salaries across the U.S..
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in Great Falls and Bozeman.
It's one of 5 Montana metros with published pay for this trade; see statewide maintenance technician pay.
Maintenance Technician pay in Helena at a glance
- Maintenance technicians in the Helena, MT metro earn a median $46,430 a year ($22.32 an hour), #261 of 393 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $34,670 and $63,730.
- After local prices, that median buys what $48,529 would in a typical U.S. place (BEA, 2024).
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $1,311 a month, 34% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
Check your pay here
Enter a rate to see where it falls among maintenance technicians in Helena.
Comparing two real offers with overtime and commutes? Use the job offer checker.
What this means Our calculation
Pay for maintenance technicians here is below average compared with other U.S. metros, and also below average once local prices are factored in. For the wider job market, unemployment is lower than in most metros (3.1%) and the population is growing faster than most (+7.7% since 2020).
Helena scorecard for maintenance technicians Our calculation
Grades compare Helena with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers. Grey line: typical U.S. metro ($48,330).
Compared with nearby metros
What the pay is really worth in Helena Our calculation
Prices in Helena run 4% below the U.S. average. Adjusted for that, a median paycheck here buys what $48,529 would in a typical place, ranking #300 of 387 on real pay.
Real pay or rent burden?
Real pay already accounts for housing, because the price index includes rent. Rent burden shows what share of pay a typical 1-bedroom takes. Use either one, not both together.
Want the full picture? Build a Helena budget on this pay from this pay, local rent and prices.
What maintenance technicians do
Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of a building in repair. Duties may involve pipe fitting; HVAC maintenance; insulating; welding; machining; carpentry; repairing electrical or mechanical equipment; installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment; and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs.
Most important day-to-day tasks
- Perform routine maintenance, such as inspecting drives, motors, or belts, checking fluid levels, replacing filters, or doing other preventive maintenance actions.
- Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions.
- Adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges.
- Repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices.
- Order parts, supplies, or equipment from catalogs or suppliers.
Outlook & getting started
Nationally, maintenance technician jobs are projected to grow 4.2% from 2025 to 2035 (all jobs: 3.5%), with about 148,700 openings a year. About 1% are self-employed.
What the work is like Government data
How often maintenance technicians deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Licensing in Montana Official source
The main state licensing office in Montana is the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (Business Standards). It can point you to the right license for maintenance technicians.
Official Montana licensing site ↗
Requirements for maintenance technicians vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
On-the-job safety Government data
Nationally, maintenance technicians have 212 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 2.5× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2023–2024 (national, cases with days away from work).
Highest-paying MT metros for maintenance technicians
| Metro | Median | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great FallsMONTANA · MT | $48,250 | $49,822 | 370 |
| BillingsMONTANA · MT | $47,840 | $51,152 | 850 |
| BozemanMONTANA · MT | $47,590 | $46,425 | 800 |
| MissoulaMONTANA · MT | $47,490 | $49,240 | 590 |
| HelenaMONTANA · MT | $46,430 | $48,529 | 390 |
See every metro in Montana.
How much work is there? Government data
Local job market
The Helena area's unemployment rate was 3.1% in 2025 (all workers, not just maintenance technicians), below the typical U.S. metro's 4.1%. It was 3.1% in 2021.
BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, annual averages 2021–2025 (2025 preliminary).
Getting to work
The average commute in the Helena area is 22 minutes each way, shorter than the typical metro (24 min). 8% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 72% drive alone, 0% take transit and 12% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
Population
The Helena area's population grew 7.7% from 2020 to 2025 (90,182 → 97,153), ranking #56 of 387 metros for growth (typical metro +2.5%). People moving in (net +7,578) account for more than all of the change.
Census Bureau population estimates, July 1 of each year, 2020–2025.
New construction
New-home permits in Helena are down 54% from 2024 to 2025 (468 → 216).
In 2025 the Helena area approved permits for 216 new homes (69 single-family), or 2.3 per 1,000 residents, ranking #272 of 393 metros.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $46,430 employee salary once you cover what an employer normally pays for (including the employer half of Social Security and Medicare, 7.65%), then adds your profit margin. Change any number.
Break-even rate
With your profit margin
How this calculator works. Weighing a contractor job against a W-2 one? Try the 1099 vs. W-2 comparison. Billable hours are hours you can charge a customer. Driving, quoting, paperwork and slow weeks aren't billable, which is why 1,400 is a common starting point versus 2,080 paid hours as an employee.
Get maintenance technician pricing & estimate templates →Compare Helena with another city →
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Could this trade pay more somewhere else?
ToolBest cities for maintenance techniciansRank every metro on pay, buying power, rent and jobs.Is a job offer here any good?
ToolCheck an offer in HelenaSee where it falls among local maintenance technicians, after the commute.Could you afford to live here?
ToolHelena budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Helena metro: pay (BLS, May 2025) and pay over time (2020–2025, CPI-adjusted), prices (BEA, 2024), rent (HUD, FY2027), new construction, housing, population and commuting (Census), unemployment (BLS) and business counts (Census, by industry). National: job outlook and training (BLS projections), injury rates (BLS) and duties (O*NET). Jobs are employment estimates, not open positions; grades rank Helena against every other metro for maintenance technicians. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.
Report a data issue on this page
The Census doesn't publish one-person business or competition figures for maintenance technicians as a separate industry, so that section is left out.