Urban and Regional Planners in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,423
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$19,937
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,813
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
$84,360
Kept after tax
$64,423
Worth in national money
$67,813
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Utah is 20 of 51 states for urban and regional planners, with a middle wage of $84,360. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 487 occupations Utah reports, urban and regional planners comes in at 99 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $84,360 you keep $64,423, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,813 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $87,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Utah ranks 20 of 51 for urban and regional planners at $84,360. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Urban and regional planners ranks 99 of 487 occupations by median in Utah, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for urban and regional planners on $84,360 is $64,423. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,813 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 $87,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Urban and Regional Planners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,070 |
| This salary | $84,360 |
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 | $64,423 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,177 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,347 |
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 | $79,024 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,242 |
| 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 urban and regional planners in Utah earn under $84,360 and half over. The published range runs $56,730 at the tenth percentile to $125,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $64,423, from $84,360, 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 99 of 487 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,813 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 99.
- Figures are distribution medians for urban and regional planners in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $56,730 to $125,070; 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 $64,423 from $84,360. 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 99 of 487 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,813, worked from $84,360, 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 99 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 $87,220, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $56,730, the highest tenth $125,070, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $67,813.
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 $64,423.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $87,220. 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 ($56,730) and the ninetieth ($125,070) 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 $67,813 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 $64,423 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.