Utah sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
6.1%
Set locally
1.32%
statewide average
Combined
7.42%
Local share
17.79%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in Utah
Add the tax on
7.42% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 7.42%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How Utah's sales tax is put together
- Utah splits this with your county. The state's share is about 6.1%. The local share, on average across Utah, is about 1.32%. What you actually pay is both of them at once, about 7.42%, and the second half changes depending on where in Utah you are standing when you buy.
- Utah charges less on groceries than on other things, but it does still charge. The food rate is about 3.65%, which comes to $36 per thousand dollars spent. It is a real reduction. It is not the exemption most people assume when they hear their state went easy on food.
- Utah taxes clothes like it taxes everything else. Spend a thousand dollars on apparel and the tax is $74. Some states exempt clothing outright, which sounds minor and is not — it changes what a whole category of spending costs. Prescription drugs are exempt here.
- Rate-setting in Utah is shared between the state and its localities. The state component is about 6.1% and the local component on average across Utah is about 1.32%, producing about 7.42%. Because the local half is set independently and varies across the state, the combined rate is a property of the transaction's location rather than of Utah as a whole — the reason this site prices purchases against a named county instead of a statewide average.
- Utah levies a reduced grocery rate of about 3.65% — $36 per thousand dollars of food spending — rather than exempting food outright. Reduced-rate states are systematically misclassified in aggregate comparisons, and the error runs in the expensive direction for a reader who assumes exemption. The multiplier model this site uses exists because of exactly this group of states.
- Apparel falls inside Utah's sales tax base at the full combined rate, contributing $74 per thousand dollars spent. The states exempting clothing form a small group, and base differences of that kind explain more of the variation in real household sales tax burden than headline rates do. Utah exempts prescription drugs, in line with the near-universal national treatment.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $7.42 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 7.42% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 29 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 11 |
| Lowest county rate | 6.35% |
| Highest county rate | 7.65% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $7.42 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $107.42 |
| Rate here | 7.42% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $99.61 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 7.42% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 6.35% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 7.65% |
| Gap between them | 1.3% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
Utah
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | Utah | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | 3.65% | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | 7.42% | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 37.9¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $2.20 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in Utah. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 6.1% | 1.32% | 7.42% |
| Salt Lake County (Salt Lake City) | same | 2.35% | 8.45% |
| Utah County (Provo) | same | 1.35% | 7.45% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across Utah. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is Utah's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 7.42% | $74 |
| Groceries | 3.65% | $36 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 7.42% | $74 |
Every county in Utah
This is the whole state, not a sample — 29 counties, from 6.35% in Beaver County up to 7.65% in Wayne County. These are county floors. City, transit and special-district taxes can add to them, so an address may pay more.
Complete county coverage for Utah: 29 counties spanning 6.35% (Beaver County) to 7.65% (Wayne County), across 11 distinct rates. Figures are county floors: the state rate plus the county's own levy, excluding municipal, transit and special-district taxes. The representative location figures earlier in the page may include additional local layers.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Box Elder County | 4.85% | 1.8% | 6.65% |
| Cache County | 4.85% | 2.15% | 7% |
| Carbon County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Daggett County | 4.85% | 2.8% | 7.65% |
| Davis County | 4.85% | 2.3% | 7.15% |
| Duchesne County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Emery County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Garfield County | 4.85% | 2.5% | 7.35% |
| Grand County | 4.85% | 2.5% | 7.35% |
| Iron County | 4.85% | 1.8% | 6.65% |
| Juab County | 4.85% | 1.8% | 6.65% |
| Kane County | 4.85% | 2.5% | 7.35% |
| Millard County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Morgan County | 4.85% | 1.85% | 6.7% |
| Piute County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Rich County | 4.85% | 1.8% | 6.65% |
| Salt Lake County | 4.85% | 2.6% | 7.45% |
| San Juan County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Sanpete County | 4.85% | 1.5% | 6.35% |
| Sevier County | 4.85% | 1.8% | 6.65% |
| Summit County | 4.85% | 2.8% | 7.65% |
| Tooele County | 4.85% | 1.75% | 6.6% |
| Uintah County | 4.85% | 1.6% | 6.45% |
| Utah County | 4.85% | 2.5% | 7.35% |
| Wasatch County | 4.85% | 2.4% | 7.25% |
| Washington County | 4.85% | 1.6% | 6.45% |
| Wayne County | 4.85% | 2.8% | 7.65% |
| Weber County | 4.85% | 2.4% | 7.25% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- The first Utah county table and calculator location list are samples, picked to show how much local rates move rather than to cover everywhere. Your address might land outside the range shown. A recent receipt is the better source if you have one.
- Utah taxes some things through this general rate and other things through taxes of their own. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco fall in the second group, and those charges sit inside the price rather than on the receipt. Vehicle purchases, hotel stays and eating out often add their own charges as well.
- Exemptions are broader on paper than in a shop. Utah draws its own lines inside each category — what counts as a grocery rather than a prepared meal, what counts as clothing rather than an accessory. Those lines decide the tax on a real basket, and they are where two states with identical rates stop agreeing.
- The first Utah county table and calculator location list are representative samples, not a complete register. It exists to demonstrate the magnitude of local variation, so the highest and lowest figures shown bound the sample rather than the state. Any specific address should be checked against the local revenue authority or a recent receipt; a complete county-floor table, where shown separately, still excludes additional city and district taxes.
- Utah's general sales tax is one of several consumption taxes it levies, and the only one modeled on this page. Motor fuel, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are taxed under separate excise schedules, normally price-inclusive and therefore not visible as a line item. Lodging, prepared meals and vehicle transfers are frequently subject to additional dedicated rates at state or local level.
- The exemption classes shown for Utah are broad categories, and the statutory boundaries inside each one govern the actual charge. Prepared and heated food routinely falls outside a grocery exemption; footwear, athletic wear and accessories are commonly carved out of a clothing exemption. Because these definitions differ between states, two jurisdictions with matching rates and matching exemption lists can produce materially different tax on an identical basket.
Questions people ask
Why is the tax at the register higher than the state rate?
Because the state rate is only the first layer. Counties, cities and special districts add their own on top, which takes about 6.1% up to about 7.42% — and it changes as you cross town lines rather than staying put.
Is food taxed at a lower rate here?
Not exempt, but not full rate either. Utah applies a reduced rate to groceries, so food is taxed more lightly than other goods rather than not at all.
Is clothing exempt here?
It is not. Clothing takes the standard rate here — only a small group of states exempt it, and Utah is outside that group.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
Barely. The local portion is about 17.79% of the combined rate, so a statewide figure is close to right almost everywhere in Utah.
What composes the combined rate in this state?
The combined rate is the state levy plus every local levy sourced to the point of sale. Utah sets about 6.1%; the representative combined rate is about 7.42%, of which about 17.79% is decided locally. A single statewide figure is therefore an approximation.
What reduced rate applies to groceries in this state?
Utah applies a preferential reduced rate to groceries rather than a full exemption. Local add-ons may or may not follow the reduced rate depending on state law, so the effective grocery rate is not always the state reduced rate alone.
How is apparel classified for sales tax in this state?
Utah applies the standard rate to apparel with no general exemption. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and among those several impose per-item caps or exclude athletic and formal wear, so cross-state assumptions about apparel are unreliable.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 17.79% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.