Optometrists in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$87,297
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$31,773
26.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$91,890
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
$119,070
Kept after tax
$87,297
Worth in national money
$91,890
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Utah pays optometrists a middle wage of $119,070, 43 of 51 states and about 12.81% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Utah this is well-paid work. Of 487 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 33 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $119,070 you keep $87,297 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $91,890 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $128,180, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah's $119,070 median for optometrists places it 43 of 51 states, about 12.81% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation Utah publishes a median for, optometrists sits 33 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 $87,297 after the full tax stack, from $119,070. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $91,890 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $128,180 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $119,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $172,480 |
| This salary | $119,070 |
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 | $87,297 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $92,596 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,398 |
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 | $111,538 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,693 |
| 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 optometrists in Utah earn under $119,070 and half over. The published range runs $44,470 at the tenth percentile to $172,480 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $87,297 take-home in Utah comes from $119,070. 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 33 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $91,890, the adjusted value of that $119,070 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 33 of 487 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for optometrists in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,470 to $172,480; 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 $87,297, from $119,070, 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 33 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $91,890 — the adjusted value of that $119,070 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 33 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 $128,180, 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 $44,470 and the top tenth $172,480 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $91,890 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $87,297.
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 $128,180. 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 ($44,470) and the ninetieth ($172,480) 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 $91,890 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 $87,297 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.