How much does an RN make in Utah?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $82,270 for RNs in Utah as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $77,030 and the 75th-percentile is $101,530.

What does the top of the RN pay scale look like in Utah?

The 90th percentile lands at $106,960. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $101,530.

Why is the BEA RPP for Utah different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Utah's overall index of 95.7 reflects rents 106.2, services 73.0, and goods 94.7.

Where does Utah rank for RN pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Utah ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

How wide is the wage spread in Utah?

P10 to P90 spans $67,980 to $106,960. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Utah?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Utah.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Utah Registered Nurse Salary: BLS $82K Median, Real $86K (2026)

TL;DR

BLS reports Utah RN median pay at $82,270. Adjusted for state cost of living, real purchasing power equals $85,952.
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
Bottom quartile $77,030, top quartile $101,530. The P90 ($106,960) is roughly 1.6× the P10 ($67,980).
Multistate license: Utah participates in the NLC compact, useful for travel-RN flexibility.
RN ranking: #31 on the BLS table, #44 once cost of living is in.

Wage breakdown — Utah

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$67,980	$71,023
P25 (lower quartile)	$77,030	$80,478
P50 (median)	$82,270	$85,952
P75 (upper quartile)	$101,530	$106,074
P90 (top tier)	$106,960	$111,747
Mean	$88,240	$92,189
Employment	25,780 RNs in Utah

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Utah index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	95.7
Goods	94.7
Services	73.0
Rents	106.2

Utah's overall RPP (95.7) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Utah (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (RN)	$82,270	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$9,346	11.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$2,993	4.5% flat (2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$6,294	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$63,637	77.4% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$66,485	÷ (95.7 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Utah state-tax burden means for RN take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.6% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $63,637 (77.4% of gross). After the 95.7 RPP, real take-home is $66,485.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $93,600 for RNs with mean pay of $98,430 and total employment of 3,282,010. Utah sits at #31 on nominal pay and #44 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Utah falls 13 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Licensure — Utah (NLC)

Utah participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), with effective participation since 2018. RNs holding a multistate license issued by another Compact state may practice in Utah without applying for a separate Utah license. Utah-issued multistate licenses are reciprocally recognized in 36 other Compact states (37 jurisdictions total in 2026), eliminating the per-state endorsement workflow ($100–$500 + 4–16 week processing) for travel and per-diem RN work.

Utah has been a Compact participant for 8 years as of 2026, putting it among the long-tenured members where the Compact pathway is the established norm at most employers and travel agencies.

Source: NCSBN compact implementation tracker — re-synced quarterly. See NLC reciprocity hub for the cross-state matrix and changelog for status changes.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an RN make in Utah?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $82,270 for RNs in Utah as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $77,030 and the 75th-percentile is $101,530.
What does the top of the RN pay scale look like in Utah?: The 90th percentile lands at $106,960. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $101,530.
Why is the BEA RPP for Utah different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Utah's overall index of 95.7 reflects rents 106.2, services 73.0, and goods 94.7.
Where does Utah rank for RN pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Utah ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
How wide is the wage spread in Utah?: P10 to P90 spans $67,980 to $106,960. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Utah?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Utah.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 29-1141, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Utah RN pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.