Paramedics in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,834
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$13,586
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,561
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
$65,420
Kept after tax
$51,834
Worth in national money
$54,561
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for paramedics is strong here. Utah's middle earner gets $65,420, putting the state 13 of 51 — about 7.95% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Paramedics ranks 178 among 487 occupations Utah publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $65,420 you keep $51,834 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,561 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $68,560, since top earners drag the number up.
- For paramedics, Utah sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $65,420, ranking 13 of 51 and running about 7.95% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 178 of 487 in Utah places paramedics 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.
- Retained pay in Utah is $51,834 after the full tax stack, from $65,420. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,561 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $68,560 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Paramedics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,620 |
| This salary | $65,420 |
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 | $51,834 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,745 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,776 |
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 | $61,797 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,148 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $65,420 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,820 and the ninetieth is $94,620 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Utah's $51,834, worked from $65,420. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 178 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,561 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 178.
- The Utah median of $65,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,820 to $94,620. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Utah take-home of $51,834, on $65,420 for work ranking 178 of 487 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 178 of 487 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,561, worked from $65,420, 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 178 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 $68,560, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $45,820 and the top tenth $94,620 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $54,561 in national terms.
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 $51,834.
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 $68,560. 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 ($45,820) and the ninetieth ($94,620) 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 $54,561 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 $51,834 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.