Medical Assistant Salary in Utah 2026,
$45,360 Median | BLS Data by City

A median $45,360 a year, or $21.81 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $38,460 and $48,170 and a full range of $35,890 to $56,260. That is 0.7% below the $45,690 national median — essentially level — and the ceiling of $56,260 is well above what this occupation reaches in much of this batch.

Ogden at $46,380, narrowly ahead of Salt Lake City-Murray at $46,080, with Logan at $44,980, Provo-Orem-Lehi at $43,730 and St. George at $42,720 behind. The whole table spans under four thousand dollars, so relocation within Utah is a weak strategy for this occupation.

No. Utah does not license or register medical assistants and sets no statutory scope of practice — your duties are delegated by the supervising physician or practitioner under the employer's policy. It is a notable contrast within this state, since the same Department of Commerce division licenses radiologic technologists. National certification is what employers screen on: the CMA, RMA, NCMA or CCMA, plus a current BLS card.

Certification first, since it is the only formal credential available and lifts you off the $35,890 tenth percentile. Then specialty practice — cardiology, orthopaedics, dermatology, surgical offices — and employment with Intermountain or University of Utah Health, whose defined structures pay above small independent practice. Lead medical assistant and clinical coordinator roles are what reach the $48,170 seventy-fifth percentile and the $56,260 ninetieth. Geography contributes under four thousand dollars and is not worth relocating for.

More so than in the low-wage states, because reasonable pay produces lower turnover and therefore fewer vacancies relative to a workforce of about 9,990. National certification carries more weight here as a screening credential than it does where employers are struggling to fill shifts, and clinical externship experience with one of the large systems is a genuine advantage. Utah's fast-growing population means the vacancy flow is real, but the better posts attract applicants.

Because the employer side does the work that regulation does elsewhere. Utah's ambulatory care is dominated by large integrated systems — Intermountain Health above all, with University of Utah Health alongside — that operate defined pay structures and internal progression for the role. That produces more consistent and higher wages than a fragmented market of independent practices setting rates individually. The contrast within this batch is instructive: Alabama also does not license medical assistants, and its median is far below Utah's. Neither state regulates the role; the difference is who employs them and at what scale.

Scope varies invisibly. Because Utah sets no statutory scope of practice, two posts with the same title can involve genuinely different work — one predominantly administrative, one predominantly clinical — at similar pay, and the employer's delegation policy is the only thing distinguishing them. The figure also blends part-time with full-time work and excludes shift differentials. And it must be read against Wasatch Front housing costs, which have risen sharply and consume a large share of a wage at this level.

Better than in most of this batch, because the median matches the national figure and the $56,260 ninetieth percentile gives real headroom, and because the large systems offer structured internal progression. But the ceiling still arrives — the 75th percentile is $48,170 — and the most effective step remains a further credential. Radiologic technology is a particularly strong target in Utah, where the median is well above this one and the workforce is unusually thin at a location quotient of 0.69, and both Intermountain and University of Utah Health support internal movement into it.