Accountants and Auditors in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,543
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$18,447
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,781
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$79,990
Kept after tax
$61,543
Worth in national money
$64,781
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for accountants and auditors. The median is $79,990, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 487 occupations Utah reports, accountants and auditors comes in at 116 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $79,990 you keep $61,543 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $64,781 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $87,700, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah occupies the middle band for accountants and auditors: a median of $79,990, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Accountants and auditors ranks 116 of 487 occupations by median in Utah, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Utah is $61,543 after the full tax stack, from $79,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,781 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $87,700 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Accountants and Auditors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,590 |
| This salary | $79,990 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Utah | $61,543 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,103 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,214 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $74,930 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,059 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $79,990 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,770 and the ninetieth is $131,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $61,543, from $79,990, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 116 of 487 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,781, the adjusted value of that $79,990 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 116 of 487 in the state.
- The Utah median of $79,990 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,770 to $131,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,543 from $79,990. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 116 of 487 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $64,781 — the adjusted value of that $79,990 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 116 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $87,700, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $48,770 at the bottom tenth to $131,590 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $64,781.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Utah then takes its own share, leaving $61,543.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Utah is $87,700. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,770) and the ninetieth ($131,590) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $64,781 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $61,543 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.