Physical Therapist Assistants in Utah

A stethoscope and folded scrubs in a sunlit clinical workspace.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$49,223

after federal, FICA and Utah tax

Tax takes

$12,757

20.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$51,812

Utah costs less than average

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

$61,980

Kept after tax

$49,223

Worth in national money

$51,812

State rank

41

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Utah is among the lower-paying states for physical therapist assistants. The middle earner takes $61,980, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 9.36% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
  • Ordinary, locally speaking. Physical therapist assistants ranks 205 among 487 occupations Utah publishes pay for.
  • Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,980 you keep $49,223 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $51,812 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $62,470, since top earners drag the number up.
  • Utah ranks 41 of 51 for physical therapist assistants, with a median of $61,980 — about 9.36% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
  • Position 205 of 487 in Utah places physical therapist 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.
  • Retained pay in Utah is $49,223 after the full tax stack, from $61,980. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $51,812 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $62,470 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$34,190
Half earn under$61,980
Top tenth earn over$84,000
This salary$61,980

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

Compare with
+$2,758take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Utah$49,223
Take-home in Texas$51,981
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$1,680

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

Moving to
$0now · $61,980$59,949
$59,949in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$58,547
You could take a cut of−$2,031
Prices in Texas97 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 $61,980. The published range is $34,190 up to $84,000, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $49,223 take-home in Utah comes from $61,980. 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 205 of 487.
  • Two cautions on $51,812, the adjusted value of that $61,980 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Utah. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 205 of 487 locally.
  • Reported values are medians; for physical therapist assistants in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,190 to $84,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $49,223, from $61,980, 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 205 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
  • This $51,812 adjusted figure, worked from $61,980, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 205 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 205 of 487 locally.

Questions people ask

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

The label is broader than the work. From $34,190 at the bottom tenth to $84,000 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.

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 $51,812 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 $49,223.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?

Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,190) and the ninetieth ($84,000) 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 $51,812 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 $49,223 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.