Public Safety Telecommunicators in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,257
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$10,863
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,533
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
$54,120
Kept after tax
$43,257
Worth in national money
$45,533
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Utah is 25 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $54,120. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 487 occupations Utah reports figures for, this is number 270.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $54,120 you keep $43,257, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,533 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,920, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Utah ranks 25 of 51 for public safety telecommunicators at $54,120. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Utah's occupational distribution, public safety telecommunicators sits at 270 of 487 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for public safety telecommunicators on $54,120 is $43,257. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,533 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 $57,920 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,890 |
| This salary | $54,120 |
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 | $43,257 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,665 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,460 |
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 | $51,123 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,766 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $54,120 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,070 and the ninetieth is $75,890 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $43,257 take-home in Utah comes from $54,120. 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 270 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,533, the adjusted value of that $54,120 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 270 of 487 in the state.
- The Utah median of $54,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,070 to $75,890. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $43,257, from $54,120, 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 270 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $45,533 — the adjusted value of that $54,120 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 270 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 $57,920, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,070 at the bottom tenth to $75,890 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $45,533.
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, $43,257 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.
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 $57,920. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,070 to $75,890) 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 $45,533 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 $43,257 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.