Opticians, Dispensing in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,891
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$7,889
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,674
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
$41,780
Kept after tax
$33,891
Worth in national money
$35,674
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for opticians, dispensing is on the low side in Utah. The middle earner gets $41,780. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 11.6% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 487 occupations Utah publishes, opticians, dispensing lands at 392. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $41,780 the take-home is $33,891; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,674 would nationally. The average comes to $47,020, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For opticians, dispensing, Utah sits in the lower band at $41,780, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.6%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Utah, this work ranks 392 of 487 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for opticians, dispensing in Utah, on $41,780, is $33,891 — equivalent to $35,674 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 $47,020 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,750 |
| This salary | $41,780 |
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 | $33,891 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,750 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,116 |
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 | $39,466 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,349 |
| 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 opticians, dispensing in Utah earn under $41,780 and half over. The published range runs $35,680 at the tenth percentile to $76,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $33,891 take-home in Utah comes from $41,780. 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 392 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,674 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 392.
- Figures are distribution medians for opticians, dispensing in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,680 to $76,750; 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 $33,891, from $41,780, 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 392 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,674, worked from $41,780, 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 392 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 $47,020 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $35,680, the highest tenth $76,750, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $35,674.
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 $33,891.
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 $47,020. 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 ($35,680) and the ninetieth ($76,750) 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 $35,674 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 $33,891 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.