Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,876
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$6,614
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,448
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
$36,490
Kept after tax
$29,876
Worth in national money
$31,448
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah sits in the middle of the pack for substitute teachers, short-term. The median is $36,490, ranking 31 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Utah, this one sits low: 443 of 487 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,490 the take-home is $29,876; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $31,448 would nationally. The average comes to $40,210, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Utah occupies the middle band for substitute teachers, short-term: a median of $36,490, ranking 31 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Substitute teachers, short-term occupies position 443 of 487 in Utah's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for substitute teachers, short-term in Utah, on $36,490, is $29,876 — equivalent to $31,448 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $40,210 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,780 |
| This salary | $36,490 |
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 | $29,876 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,500 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$968 |
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 | $34,469 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,170 |
| 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 substitute teachers, short-term in Utah earn under $36,490 and half over. The published range runs $24,710 at the tenth percentile to $53,780 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $29,876, from $36,490, 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 443 of 487 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,448, the adjusted value of that $36,490 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 443 of 487 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for substitute teachers, short-term in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,710 to $53,780; 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 $29,876 from $36,490. 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 443 of 487 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $31,448 — the adjusted value of that $36,490 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 443 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 $40,210 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $24,710, the highest tenth $53,780, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $31,448 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $29,876.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $40,210. 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 ($24,710) and the ninetieth ($53,780) 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 $31,448 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 $29,876 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.