Utah · 2026 employer costs
How much does an employee cost in Utah?
Utah withholds state income tax from employee pay, but that's not an employer cost. What actually lands on the employer side is federal Social Security and Medicare plus Utah's own unemployment insurance rate and wage base. Below is a 2026 estimate for a $60,000 hire, and the full calculator to run your own numbers.
A $60,000 Utah employee costs about
$65,240
in mandatory employer costs alone — before any optional benefits. SUI is estimated at the 1.2% statutory minimum; your industry rate may be higher.
- New-employer SUI: set from your industry's average rate, between 1.2% and 7.1%, on the first $50,700 of wages — there's no single new-employer rate.
- Standard FUTA rate applies: 0.6% — this state is not projected to face a federal credit reduction for 2026.
- State income tax is withheld from the employee's wages, not paid directly by the employer.
- These rate rules were checked against the UT Dept. of Workforce Services (DWS); Utah Code 35A-4-303, current as of 2026-09-23.
Utah bases a new employer's rate on its major industry's average benefit cost rate (at least 1%), adjusted by the 2026 reserve factor and social cost rate — about 1.2% at minimum and 7.1% at most for 2026. The calculator uses the 1.2% minimum unless you enter the rate on your DWS notice.
What you’d pay this person — before taxes or benefits.
Used only for employer-size rules. The estimate below is for one new hire.
Set by your industry average. Official range 1.2%–7.1%. Left blank, the 1.2% minimum is used.
Health insurance, 401(k) match, bonus, and more. Off by default.
2026 calculation assumptions▾
Source: SSA / IRS
Source: IRS
Source: IRS / U.S. Dept. of Labor
Utah bases a new employer's rate on its major industry's average benefit cost rate (at least 1%), adjusted by the 2026 reserve factor and social cost rate — about 1.2% at minimum and 7.1% at most for 2026. The calculator uses the 1.2% minimum unless you enter the rate on your DWS notice.
Source: UT Dept. of Workforce Services (DWS); Utah Code 35A-4-303
This estimate assumes your business is a new employer (not yet experience-rated) for unemployment insurance purposes. An established business’s actual SUI rate may be higher or lower depending on its claims history. “Current employees” is used only to check headcount-based thresholds (paid sick leave tiers, the ACA’s 50-employee mark) — it doesn’t change the tax rates themselves.
*Statutory minimum — your industry rate may be higher
Reverse the question
Not “what will it cost?” — what can I afford?
Enter what your business can put toward one new hire each month, all-in. We’ll work backward through UT payroll taxes to the highest salary it supports.
Estimated affordable salary
$77,426
per year
Utah hiring guide
What makes hiring in Utah different?
Utah sets a new employer's UI rate by formula, starting from the claims history of the employer's major industry. The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) takes the industry's benefit costs over the last two fiscal years and divides them by the industry's taxable wages. That result, or 1% if higher, is your basic rate. DWS multiplies it by a reserve factor, which reflects the health of the state's trust fund, then adds a social cost rate. For 2026, DWS set the reserve factor at 1.10 and the social cost rate at 0.1%.
State law also sets limits. A new employer's overall rate can't be lower than 1.1%, and no employer pays more than 7% plus the social cost rate. With the 2026 factors, that puts new employers between about 1.2% and 7.1%. A business in an industry with no Utah claims history at all starts from a 5.4% basic rate.
The rate applies to the first $50,700 of each employee's 2026 wages. By statute, the wage base is 75% of the insured average wage for the previous fiscal year, rounded up to the next $100.
Why your own Utah rate matters
Earlier versions of this page used a single 1.4% rate for every new Utah employer. That number didn't come from any Utah rule or industry rate; it just fell inside the legal range. An illustration of how far industries can differ: an industry whose benefit costs average 3% of taxable wages would produce 3% × 1.10 + 0.1% = 3.4%, nearly three times the minimum.
The calculator now uses the 1.2% floor when the SUI field is empty and says so on the receipt. Every point above that adds $507 a year for an employee earning $50,700 or more. Enter the overall rate on your DWS rate notice to get your real number.
Official sources
- Utah Legislature — Utah Code Title 35A, Chapter 4 — Employment Security Act (§§ 35A-4-208, 35A-4-303)
- Utah Department of Workforce Services — Unemployment insurance tax rates
Last verified: September 23, 2026