Jobs and pay in Utah

The highest-paying occupations in Utah

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

5 further occupations are paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes them only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: anesthesiologists, cardiologists, dermatologists, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Obstetricians and gynecologists$437,170
2. Radiologists$417,250
3. General internal medicine physicians$331,720
4. Psychiatrists$299,670
5. Family medicine physicians$297,510
6. Physicians, all other$228,060
7. Pediatricians, general$210,360
8. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$188,490
9. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$174,590
10. Petroleum engineers$172,840
11. Chief executives$171,880
12. Health specialties teachers, postsecondary$168,060
13. Computer and information systems managers$163,610
14. Architectural and engineering managers$161,120
15. Air traffic controllers$158,310
16. Physicists$156,760
17. Financial managers$150,450
18. Pharmacists$144,240
19. Emergency medicine physicians$140,370
20. Marketing managers$139,830
21. Sales managers$136,520
22. Aerospace engineers$135,840
23. Database administrators$135,750
24. Psychologists, all other$135,200
25. Managers, all other$134,890

Where the jobs actually are in Utah

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Fast food and counter workers52,340 employed
2. Retail salespersons47,570 employed
3. Customer service representatives44,490 employed
4. General and operations managers42,580 employed
5. Office clerks, general36,470 employed
6. Software developers31,940 employed
7. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand29,670 employed
8. Registered nurses27,420 employed
9. Stockers and order fillers26,730 employed
10. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers25,060 employed
11. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners24,710 employed
12. Cashiers22,940 employed
13. Construction laborers20,950 employed
14. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators19,110 employed
15. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers18,890 employed
16. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary18,170 employed
17. Waiters and waitresses17,790 employed
18. Home health and personal care aides17,130 employed
19. Project management specialists16,450 employed
20. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel16,210 employed
21. Maintenance and repair workers, general16,090 employed
22. Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks15,750 employed
23. Accountants and auditors15,490 employed
24. Carpenters15,220 employed
25. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive14,870 employed

The best-paid Utah work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Air traffic controllers$158,310 · Associate's degree
2. Athletes and sports competitors$122,800 · No formal educational credential
3. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$114,250 · Postsecondary nondegree award
4. Cardiovascular technologists and technicians$113,510 · Associate's degree
5. Nuclear medicine technologists$111,770 · Associate's degree
6. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$110,500 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. First-line supervisors of correctional officers$110,410 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Radiation therapists$107,660 · Associate's degree
9. Power plant operators$107,120 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$105,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
11. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$102,180 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$101,220 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$100,380 · Postsecondary nondegree award
14. Diagnostic medical sonographers$100,100 · Associate's degree
15. Commercial pilots$99,610 · Postsecondary nondegree award
16. Postmasters and mail superintendents$98,570 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Gas plant operators$98,300 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. Riggers$93,640 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Real estate brokers$92,830 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$91,150 · Associate's degree
21. Dental hygienists$91,120 · Associate's degree
22. Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists$90,020 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Transit and railroad police$87,770 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Rail car repairers$83,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. Flight attendants$82,730 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Utah does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Utah employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Subway and streetcar operators lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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