Live in Idaho, work in Utah
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Utah takes
$2,670
on wages earned there
Idaho takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,670
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$343
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youUtah charges more than Idaho would, and Idaho only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Idaho bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Here is the thing people get wrong about Idaho and Utah. Moving somewhere cheaper does not help if the job stays put. The state where you work takes its share first, and your home state only refunds up to what it charges itself. That leaves $343 a year that exists purely because the job is across the line. All in, $2,670.
- More people make this crossing than any other into Utah. About 9,356 jobs there are held by people living in Idaho — the biggest of the 4 routes of this size into the state. Whatever this page says about the tax, it is describing a very well-worn road.
- Utah taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and Idaho taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: Idaho credits tax paid to Utah only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $2,670 against $2,327 for the same earner working at home — $343 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in Utah changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into Utah, this is the largest single flow: 9,356 jobs held by Idaho residents, ahead of all 4 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in Utah appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,122
- Yours$58,471
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.16% | $3,122 |
| Yours77.96% | $58,471 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Utah takes, on wages earned there | $2,670 |
|---|---|
| Idaho charges its residents | $2,327 |
| Less the credit Idaho gives | $2,327 |
| Total state tax | $2,670 |
| If you also worked in Idaho | $2,327 |
| Difference | $343 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Utah is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Idaho residents.
- These numbers assume the job in Utah is your only income, and that you actually go there to work. Both matter. If you earn money in more than one state, the credit Idaho gives is worked out as a share rather than the simple cap used here. And if you work from home some days, some states have rules that treat those days as worked at the office anyway.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Idaho and Utah takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Utah or Idaho carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Utah and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Idaho limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Utah portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Utah rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Idaho to Utah comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Utah's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Idaho and Utah?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Idaho credits the tax Utah collected, capped at its own charge on that income. The practical result is one bill at the higher of the two levels: $2,670 for the year.
Would moving out of Idaho lower my state tax if I keep working in Utah?
Not while you work in Utah. That state's claim comes from where the work happens. Idaho is the one giving ground, through the credit, and a cheaper home state gives less ground rather than costing you less. The number that matters is set by Utah.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Idaho and Utah?
Two returns is the normal outcome here, even when only one state ends up taking anything. Utah generally wants to see a non-resident return from people who work there, and Idaho wants your whole picture. It is paperwork rather than extra tax.
What if I work from home in Idaho some days instead of going to Utah?
It depends on the state, and the answer is not the one most people expect. You might assume a day worked at your kitchen table in Idaho is taxed by Idaho. Usually that is right, and your Utah share shrinks to the days you were actually there. But a few states tax days you work at home as though you had been in the office, unless your employer required you to be elsewhere. It is worth checking which kind Utah is before assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Utah on a source basis, Idaho on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,670 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. Utah's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at Utah's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Idaho requires a resident return reporting all income; Utah requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Idaho fall outside Utah's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Utah throughout.