Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,952
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$18,658
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,211
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
$80,610
Kept after tax
$61,952
Worth in national money
$65,211
State rank
31
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Utah. The middle earner gets $80,610. That is 31 of 45 states, and about 17.8% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Utah. It ranks 113 out of 487 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $80,610 you keep $61,952, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $65,211 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $93,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For political science teachers, postsecondary, Utah sits in the lower band at $80,610, ranking 31 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 17.8%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Utah, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 113 of 487 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for political science teachers, postsecondary on $80,610 is $61,952. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $65,211 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $93,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,810 |
| This salary | $80,610 |
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 | $61,952 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,539 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,233 |
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 | $75,511 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,085 |
| 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 political science teachers, postsecondary in Utah earn under $80,610 and half over. The published range runs $46,010 at the tenth percentile to $129,810 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $61,952, from $80,610, 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 113 of 487 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $65,211, the adjusted value of that $80,610 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 113 of 487 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for political science teachers, postsecondary in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,010 to $129,810; 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.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,952 from $80,610. 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 113 of 487 locally.
- This $65,211 adjusted figure, worked from $80,610, 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 113 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 113 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 $93,090 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 $46,010, the highest tenth $129,810, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $65,211 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 $61,952.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $93,090. 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 ($46,010) and the ninetieth ($129,810) 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 $65,211 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 $61,952 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.