Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,164
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$13,056
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,803
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
$63,220
Kept after tax
$50,164
Worth in national money
$52,803
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $63,220, ranking 18 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 192 among 487 occupations Utah publishes pay for.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $63,220 the take-home is $50,164; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,803 would nationally. The average comes to $67,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Utah occupies the middle band for paralegals and legal assistants: a median of $63,220, ranking 18 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 192 of 487 in Utah places paralegals and legal assistants 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 paralegals and legal assistants in Utah, on $63,220, is $50,164 — equivalent to $52,803 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 $67,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,510 |
| This salary | $63,220 |
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 | $50,164 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,977 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,714 |
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 | $59,719 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,073 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Utah earn less than $63,220. The published range is $43,930 up to $100,510, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $50,164, from $63,220, 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 192 of 487 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,803 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 192.
- Reported values are medians; for paralegals and legal assistants in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,930 to $100,510. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,164 from $63,220. 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 192 of 487 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,803, worked from $63,220, 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 192 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 $67,810, 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 $43,930 and the top tenth $100,510 — 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 $52,803.
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 $50,164.
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 $67,810. 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 ($43,930) and the ninetieth ($100,510) 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 $52,803 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 $50,164 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.