Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,876
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$10,424
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,079
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
$52,300
Kept after tax
$41,876
Worth in national money
$44,079
State rank
6
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Utah's middle earner gets $52,300, putting the state 6 of 45 — about 21.88% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 487 occupations Utah reports figures for, this is number 284.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $52,300 you keep $41,876, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,079 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $48,230, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For teaching assistants, postsecondary, Utah sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $52,300, ranking 6 of 45 and running about 21.88% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Utah's occupational distribution, teaching assistants, postsecondary sits at 284 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 teaching assistants, postsecondary on $52,300 is $41,876. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,079 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 $48,230 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,910 |
| This salary | $52,300 |
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 | $41,876 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,203 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,409 |
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 | $49,403 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,704 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $52,300 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,730 and the ninetieth is $76,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $41,876 take-home in Utah comes from $52,300. 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 284 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,079 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 284.
- The Utah median of $52,300 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,730 to $76,910. 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 $41,876, from $52,300, 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 284 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,079, worked from $52,300, 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 284 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $48,230, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $26,730 at the bottom tenth to $76,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $44,079 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, $41,876 remains.
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 45 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 $48,230. 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 ($26,730) and the ninetieth ($76,910) 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 $44,079 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 $41,876 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.