Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,699
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$12,591
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,261
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
$61,290
Kept after tax
$48,699
Worth in national money
$51,261
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $61,290, ranking 33 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 487 occupations Utah reports figures for, this is number 214.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,290 you keep $48,699 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $51,261 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $65,210, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah occupies the middle band for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school: a median of $61,290, ranking 33 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Utah's occupational distribution, special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school sits at 214 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.
- Retained pay in Utah is $48,699 after the full tax stack, from $61,290. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $51,261 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $65,210 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,280 |
| This salary | $61,290 |
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 | $48,699 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,660 |
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 | $57,896 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,008 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,290 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,970 and the ninetieth is $100,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $48,699 take-home in Utah comes from $61,290. 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 214 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,261, the adjusted value of that $61,290 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 214 of 487 in the state.
- The Utah median of $61,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,970 to $100,280. 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 $48,699, from $61,290, 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 214 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $51,261 — the adjusted value of that $61,290 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 214 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 $65,210 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,970 at the bottom tenth to $100,280 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $51,261.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,699 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $65,210. 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 ($37,970) and the ninetieth ($100,280) 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 $51,261 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 $48,699 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.