Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,769
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$11,661
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,177
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
$57,430
Kept after tax
$45,769
Worth in national money
$48,177
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Utah. The middle earner gets $57,430. That is 43 of 51 states, and about 1.78% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Utah, this sits in the middle: 250 of 487 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $57,430 you keep $45,769, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $48,177 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $59,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, Utah sits in the lower band at $57,430, ranking 43 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 1.78%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators ranks 250 of 487 occupations in Utah by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators on $57,430 is $45,769. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $48,177 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 $59,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $57,430 |
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 | $45,769 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,325 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,553 |
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 | $54,249 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,878 |
| 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 $57,430. The published range is $45,530 up to $75,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $45,769 take-home in Utah comes from $57,430. 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 250 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,177 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 250.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,530 to $75,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $45,769, from $57,430, 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 250 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,177, worked from $57,430, 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 250 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,530 and the top tenth $75,030, so most people doing this work in Utah sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $48,177 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Utah's own levy, $45,769 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,530 to $75,030) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
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 $48,177 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 $45,769 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.