Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,120
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$25,990
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,125
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
$102,110
Kept after tax
$76,120
Worth in national money
$80,125
State rank
9
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Utah's middle earner gets $102,110, putting the state 9 of 48 — about 9.5% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 487 occupations Utah reports, this job comes in at 57 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $102,110 you keep $76,120 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $80,125 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $114,960, since top earners drag the number up.
- For chemistry teachers, postsecondary, Utah sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $102,110, ranking 9 of 48 and running about 9.5% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Chemistry teachers, postsecondary ranks 57 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 $76,120 after the full tax stack, from $102,110. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,125 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $114,960 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,180 |
| This salary | $102,110 |
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 | $76,120 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,664 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,884 |
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 | $95,651 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,984 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Utah earn less than $102,110. The published range is $64,850 up to $162,180, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $76,120 take-home in Utah comes from $102,110. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 57 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $80,125, the adjusted value of that $102,110 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 57 of 487 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for chemistry teachers, postsecondary in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $64,850 to $162,180. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $76,120, from $102,110, assumes a single Utah filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 57 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $80,125 — the adjusted value of that $102,110 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 57 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 $114,960, 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 $64,850 at the bottom tenth to $162,180 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Utah sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $80,125 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $76,120.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $114,960. 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 ($64,850) and the ninetieth ($162,180) 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 $80,125 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 $76,120 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.