Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,790
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$11,350
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,147
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
$56,140
Kept after tax
$44,790
Worth in national money
$47,147
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $56,140, which ranks 6 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 51% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 261 among 487 occupations Utah publishes pay for.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,140 the take-home is $44,790; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,147 would nationally. The average comes to $58,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Utah ranks 6 of 51 states publishing a median for motor vehicle operators, all other, at $56,140 — about 51% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 261 of 487 in Utah places motor vehicle operators, all other 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.
- Post-tax income for motor vehicle operators, all other in Utah, on $56,140, is $44,790 — equivalent to $47,147 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 $58,130 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,510 |
| This salary | $56,140 |
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 | $44,790 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,288 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,517 |
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 | $53,031 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,834 |
| 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 motor vehicle operators, all other in Utah earn under $56,140 and half over. The published range runs $47,570 at the tenth percentile to $71,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $44,790 take-home in Utah comes from $56,140. 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 261 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,147 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 261.
- Figures are distribution medians for motor vehicle operators, all other in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,570 to $71,510; 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.
- Retained pay of $44,790, from $56,140, 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 261 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,147, worked from $56,140, 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 261 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 $58,130, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $47,570 at the tenth percentile, $71,510 at the ninetieth.
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 $47,147 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $44,790 remains.
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 $58,130. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,570 to $71,510) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
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 $47,147 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 $44,790 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.