Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,714
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$10,056
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,856
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
$50,770
Kept after tax
$40,714
Worth in national money
$42,856
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Utah pays this job around $50,770 at the midpoint, 32 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 296 among 487 occupations Utah publishes pay for.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,770 you keep $40,714, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,856 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $63,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For mental health and substance abuse social workers the Utah median is $50,770, ranking 32 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 296 of 487 in Utah places mental health and substance abuse social workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for mental health and substance abuse social workers on $50,770 is $40,714. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,856 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $63,570 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,350 |
| This salary | $50,770 |
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 | $40,714 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,974 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,367 |
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 | $47,958 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,653 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of mental health and substance abuse social workers in Utah earn under $50,770 and half over. The published range runs $37,980 at the tenth percentile to $101,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Utah's $40,714, worked from $50,770. 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 296 of 487.
- Two cautions on $42,856, the adjusted value of that $50,770 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Utah. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 296 of 487 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,980 to $101,350; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Utah take-home of $40,714, on $50,770 for work ranking 296 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 296 of 487 in the state.
- This $42,856 adjusted figure, worked from $50,770, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 296 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 296 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 $63,570, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,980 and the top tenth $101,350 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $42,856.
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 $40,714.
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 $63,570. 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 ($37,980) and the ninetieth ($101,350) 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 $42,856 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 $40,714 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.