Mechanical Engineers in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,378
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$26,123
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,396
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
$102,500
Kept after tax
$76,378
Worth in national money
$80,396
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for mechanical engineers. The median is $102,500, ranking 24 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, mechanical engineers comes in at 55 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $102,500 you keep $76,378 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $80,396 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $107,410, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah occupies the middle band for mechanical engineers: a median of $102,500, ranking 24 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.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 55 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 $76,378 after the full tax stack, from $102,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,396 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $107,410 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $160,640 |
| This salary | $102,500 |
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 | $76,378 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,939 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,896 |
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 | $96,016 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,000 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $102,500 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $73,070 and the ninetieth is $160,640 — 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 $76,378, worked from $102,500. 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 55 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $80,396 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 55.
- The Utah median of $102,500 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $73,070 to $160,640. 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 $76,378, on $102,500 for work ranking 55 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 55 of 487 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $80,396, worked from $102,500, 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 55 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $107,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $73,070 at the bottom tenth to $160,640 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 $80,396 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $76,378 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $107,410. 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 ($73,070) and the ninetieth ($160,640) 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 $80,396 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 $76,378 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.