What Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists earn in Salt Lake County, UT
According to the latest federal wage data for the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metropolitan area, the median pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Salt Lake County, UT is $64,670 a year, or $31.09 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $51,429 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Salt Lake County, UT.
The mean wage is $72,690, which is 12.4% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,250 people working in this occupation across the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Salt Lake County, UT has roughly 1,196,523 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $41,000 a year ($19.71 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $119,550 or more ($57.48 an hour). That is a gap of $78,550 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $45,510 at the 25th percentile and $86,990 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.9 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $31.09 an hour or $64,670 a year at the median for Salt Lake County, UT. Before any deductions, that is $5,389 a month, $2,487 every two weeks and $1,244 each week. After taxes the same job pays $24.73 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists this way: "Research conditions in local, regional, national, or online markets. Gather information to determine potential sales of a product or service, or plan a marketing or advertising campaign. May gather information on competitors, prices, sales, and methods of marketing and distribution. May employ search marketing tactics, analyze web metrics, and develop recommendations to increase search engine ranking and visibility to target markets."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand"; "Prepare reports of findings, illustrating data graphically and translating complex findings into written text"; "Measure and assess customer and employee satisfaction"; "Forecast and track marketing and sales trends, analyzing collected data".
Job outlook for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 952,700 jobs in 2025 to 1,019,000 in 2035, a change of +7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 82,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 8.6% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $78,760 for this occupation; the Salt Lake County, UT median of $64,670 is 17.9% below it.
How pay in Salt Lake County, UT compares
Compared with the Utah average
A worker in this occupation in Salt Lake County, UT earns $1,484 more than the Utah average of $63,186, a premium of 2.4%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,484 before tax and roughly $1,181 after tax. Within Utah, Salt Lake County, UT already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $81,560 across the contiguous United States. At $64,670, Salt Lake County, UT pays $16,890 less, which is 20.7% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Salt Lake County, UT
Among the 505 occupations with published wages in Salt Lake County, UT, Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists ranks number 209 by median pay, ahead of about 59% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $129,600 a year, which is $64,930 more than the median for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists earning the Salt Lake County, UT median of $64,670, they add up to $13,241. The result is $51,429 of take-home pay a year ($4,286 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 20.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $48,920. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $5,676, an effective 8.8% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,010 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $938. FICA totals $4,947, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Utah
Utah income tax on this salary is $2,617 a year, or 4.0% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 46% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $218 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Salt Lake County, UT
IRS Statistics of Income data for Salt Lake County, UT show an average adjusted gross income of $94,243 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.8% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.3%, compared with the 8.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Salt Lake County, UT
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Salt Lake County, UT: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $51,429 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Salt Lake County, UT, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,349 a month ($16,188 a year), and at $1,615 for two bedrooms. For Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists, a one-bedroom absorbs 31.5% of take-home pay and 25.0% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 5.3% of gross pay for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Salt Lake County, UT. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Utah residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,291 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $511, for $1,802 in total. Gasoline in Utah averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,542.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $22,967 a year in Salt Lake County, UT. Subtract that from $51,429 of take-home pay and $28,462 remains, which is $2,372 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 44.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Salt Lake County, UT
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Salt Lake County, UT: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Salt Lake County, UT, set beside the Utah and national medians.
Property taxes in Salt Lake County, UT
Homeowners in Salt Lake County, UT pay a median of $2,836 a year in real estate taxes, 12% above the Utah median of $2,525 and 9% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $525,700, the median tax bill is 0.54% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists median of $64,670, a tax bill of that size would equal 4.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Salt Lake County, UT
Renters in Salt Lake County, UT pay a median gross rent of $1,592 a month in the Census survey, 6% above the Utah median of $1,496. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,349 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $525,700, 7% above the Utah median of $489,400. Median household income is $97,494, 2% above the Utah median of $95,166, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 16.6% of that income.
Commuting in Salt Lake County, UT
Workers in Salt Lake County, UT who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.3 minutes each way, in line with the Utah average of 22.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.7% of workers in Salt Lake County, UT work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists afford to live in Salt Lake County, UT?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $64,670 that ceiling is $1,617 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,349 is $268 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $25.94 an hour; the median for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $31.09, which is 20% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $24.73 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 12.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,615 a month means $808 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,498 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $34,960.
How fast you can save
At $2,372 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 5 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 10 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists pay in Salt Lake County, UT
How much do Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists make per hour in Salt Lake County, UT?
The median is $31.09 per hour, based on $64,670 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.71 at the 10th percentile to $57.48 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists take home after taxes in Salt Lake County, UT?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $64,670 becomes $51,429 a year. That is $4,286 a month, $1,978 every two weeks or $989 a week.
How much tax do Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists pay in Salt Lake County, UT?
Total taxes are $13,241 a year, an effective rate of 20.5%: $5,676 federal income tax, $4,947 FICA and $2,617 Utah income tax.
Do Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists earn more in Salt Lake County, UT than elsewhere in Utah?
Yes. The local median of $64,670 is +2.4% versus the Utah average of $63,186, a difference of $1,484 a year.
Can Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists afford a one-bedroom apartment in Salt Lake County, UT?
A one-bedroom costs $1,349 a month against take-home pay of $4,286, which is 31.5% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,617 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists in Salt Lake County, UT?
About $2,372 a month ($28,462 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $22,967 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Salt Lake County, UT at the 30% guideline?
$25.94 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $16,188 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists is $31.09.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Utah rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.