Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,838
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$18,082
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,039
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
$78,920
Kept after tax
$60,838
Worth in national money
$64,039
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $78,920, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 15.85% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Utah, this sits in the middle: 123 of 487 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $78,920 you keep $60,838 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $64,039 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $89,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah ranks 36 of 51 for detectives and criminal investigators, with a median of $78,920 — about 15.85% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Detectives and criminal investigators ranks 123 of 487 occupations in Utah by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Utah is $60,838 after the full tax stack, from $78,920. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,039 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $89,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,280 |
| This salary | $78,920 |
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 | $60,838 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,350 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,182 |
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 | $73,928 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,014 |
| 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 $78,920. The published range is $48,040 up to $149,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $60,838 take-home in Utah comes from $78,920. 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 123 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $64,039 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 123.
- Reported values are medians; for detectives and criminal investigators in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,040 to $149,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $60,838, from $78,920, 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 123 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $64,039, worked from $78,920, 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 123 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 $89,940, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $48,040, the highest tenth $149,280, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $64,039 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Utah's own levy, $60,838 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $89,940. 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 ($48,040) and the ninetieth ($149,280) 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 $64,039 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 $60,838 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.