Operations Research Analysts in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,272
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$21,928
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,864
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
$90,200
Kept after tax
$68,272
Worth in national money
$71,864
State rank
23
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Utah is 23 of 47 states for operations research analysts, with a middle wage of $90,200. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Utah this is well-paid work. Of 487 occupations with published figures in the state, operations research analysts ranks 90 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $90,200 you keep $68,272 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,864 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $93,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah ranks 23 of 47 for operations research analysts at $90,200. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Utah publishes a median for, operations research analysts sits 90 of 487 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in Utah is $68,272 after the full tax stack, from $90,200. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,864 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $93,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $90,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,910 |
| This salary | $90,200 |
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 | $68,272 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,524 |
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 | $84,494 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,486 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $90,200 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $57,990 and the ninetieth is $130,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $68,272, from $90,200, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 90 of 487 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $71,864, the adjusted value of that $90,200 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 90 of 487 in the state.
- The Utah median of $90,200 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $57,990 to $130,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $68,272 from $90,200. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 90 of 487 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $71,864 — the adjusted value of that $90,200 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 90 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $93,310 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $57,990 and the top tenth $130,910 — 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 $71,864.
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, $68,272 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $93,310. 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 ($57,990) and the ninetieth ($130,910) 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 $71,864 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 $68,272 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.