Paramedic Salary in Utah 2026,
$65,420 Median | BLS Data by City

A median $65,420 a year, or $31.45 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 8.0% above the national median of $60,600. The middle half falls between $52,840 and $82,330 and the full band runs $45,820 to $94,620. That two-to-one spread reflects two quite different employment models rather than a single career ladder.

Ogden at $82,650, far ahead of Salt Lake City-Murray at $71,440 and Provo-Orem-Lehi at $47,840. Nearly thirty-five thousand dollars separates Ogden from Provo, which for two Wasatch Front markets an hour apart cannot be a cost-of-living difference — it reflects how much of each market's emergency response is delivered by fire-based municipal services on public pay scales.

Through the Utah Department of Health and Human Services' Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. Complete an accredited paramedic programme, obtain national certification and apply to the bureau. The bureau also licenses the ambulance and emergency response agencies and sets the state EMS rules, so the same authority credentials you and governs the service you work for.

Employment model. Fire-based municipal services employ paramedics on firefighter pay scales with pension and structured overtime; ambulance and transfer operations do not. The nearly thirty-five thousand dollar gap between Ogden at $82,650 and Provo-Orem-Lehi at $47,840 is the clearest illustration in this batch of how much that distinction is worth, and it is the first question a Utah paramedic should ask about any post.

The data makes a strong case. The state's 75th percentile of $82,330 and 90th at $94,620 sit with fire-based municipal employment, against a $52,840 twenty-fifth percentile for other models. The requirements are different, though: fire departments recruit through testing and eligibility list processes with physical standards and academy training, so it is a career plan requiring preparation rather than an application. For a paramedic intending to stay in Utah EMS long term, it is the decision that matters most.

Because EMS employment models vary between adjacent jurisdictions in a way almost no other occupation does. A city that runs fire-based emergency medical services employs paramedics as public safety employees on municipal scales with pension; a neighbouring county served by a private or hospital-based ambulance operation does not. The service boundaries do not follow any economic logic visible from outside, which is why Ogden at $82,650, Salt Lake City-Murray at $71,440 and Provo-Orem-Lehi at $47,840 can sit within an hour of one another. For a paramedic in this state, researching who provides emergency medical services in a given jurisdiction is worth more than any salary negotiation.

It reports wages as paid, so overtime — substantial in EMS and particularly in fire-based shift patterns — is inside the number, and the $31.45 hourly median is the truer comparison. With about 960 paramedics the sample is modest. Only three Wasatch Front metros are published, leaving rural, mountain and ski-corridor operations outside the geography, many of which are volunteer or combination services invisible to a wage survey. And the median falls between two employment models rather than describing either.

Employer type first, and it is worth nearly thirty-five thousand dollars judging by the metro table — fire-based municipal employment against ambulance and transfer work. Critical care transport and flight certification second, which are the credential routes with leverage inside a non-fire employer. Overtime third, taxed at Utah's flat 4.65% rather than pushing into a higher bracket. Field supervision and training officer roles fourth. Geography is really employer type in disguise here: Ogden pays more than Provo because of who runs the service, not because of where it is.