Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,688
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$6,872
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,303
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
$37,560
Kept after tax
$30,688
Worth in national money
$32,303
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Utah pays this job around $37,560 at the midpoint, 21 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 487 occupations Utah publishes, this job lands at 434. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,560 you keep $30,688, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,303 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,330, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers the Utah median is $37,560, ranking 21 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Utah, this work ranks 434 of 487 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers on $37,560 is $30,688. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,303 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 $40,330 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,100 |
| This salary | $37,560 |
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 | $30,688 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,359 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$998 |
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 | $35,480 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,207 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,560 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,890 and the ninetieth is $49,100 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Utah's $30,688, worked from $37,560. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 434 of 487.
- Two cautions on $32,303, the adjusted value of that $37,560 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Utah. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 434 of 487 locally.
- The Utah median of $37,560 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,890 to $49,100. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Utah take-home of $30,688, on $37,560 for work ranking 434 of 487 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 434 of 487 in the state.
- This $32,303 adjusted figure, worked from $37,560, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 434 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 434 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 $40,330, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,890 at the tenth percentile, $49,100 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $32,303 in national terms.
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, $30,688 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 $40,330. 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 ($31,890 to $49,100) 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 $32,303 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 $30,688 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.