Cost Estimators in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,293
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$18,317
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,518
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
$79,610
Kept after tax
$61,293
Worth in national money
$64,518
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for cost estimators. The median is $79,610, ranking 21 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, cost estimators comes in at 117 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $79,610 the take-home is $61,293; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $64,518 would nationally. The average comes to $85,510, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Utah occupies the middle band for cost estimators: a median of $79,610, ranking 21 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.
- Cost estimators ranks 117 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.
- Post-tax income for cost estimators in Utah, on $79,610, is $61,293 — equivalent to $64,518 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $85,510 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,800 |
| This salary | $79,610 |
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 | $61,293 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,836 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,203 |
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 | $74,574 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,043 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $79,610 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,740 and the ninetieth is $126,800 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Utah's $61,293, worked from $79,610. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 117 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $64,518 uses one figure for the whole of Utah. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 487 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 117.
- The Utah median of $79,610 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,740 to $126,800. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Utah take-home of $61,293, on $79,610 for work ranking 117 of 487 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 117 of 487 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $64,518, worked from $79,610, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Utah address, on work sitting at 117 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 $85,510, 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 $51,740 at the bottom tenth to $126,800 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $64,518 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $61,293 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $85,510. 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 ($51,740) and the ninetieth ($126,800) 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 $64,518 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 $61,293 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.