Department of Labor · BLS · EPI · HHS
Utah Minimum Wage: Then and Now
Utah’s minimum wage since 1968, what it was worth in today’s money, and how today’s rate compares with four published yardsticks for what it takes to live on.
Source data last read . States change rates each January and July; inflation figures update each January.
Minimum today
$7.25
Federal rate
Full-time year
$15,080
Before tax
Living wage
$26.42
EPI: one adult
Living wage
$41.96
EPI: adult + child
The minimum wage in Utah is $7.25 an hour (Department of Labor, July 1, 2026). The state’s own rate equals the federal one, so employers covered by federal law pay $7.25. Full-time, that is $15,080 a year before tax. Across the years DOL’s history covers (1968–2024), measured in 2025 dollars and counting the federal minimum in years it was higher than the state’s, the least a covered worker in Utah could be paid was highest in 1968, at $14.80.
Compare today’s minimum
Minimum wage in Utah today
$7.25
Federal rate; the state has none higher · $15,080 a year full-time
1968 buying power
Our calculation from BLS CPI-U
$14.80
an hour, 2025 dollars
$7.55 an hour above the minimum. Same in every state.
Kept pace with productivity
Our calculation from BLS data
$42.79
an hour, 2025 dollars
$35.54 an hour above the minimum. Same in every state.
Living wage
Economic Policy Institute, 2026
$26.42
an hour, 2025 dollars, per worker
$19.17 an hour above the minimum. Utah, one adult, no children.
Poverty guideline
HHS poverty guidelines, 2026
$7.67
an hour, 2026 guideline, one earner
$0.42 an hour above the minimum. Utah, household of 1.
The dark tick on each bar marks Utah’s minimum. Each card is a different organization’s or a different calculation’s answer to a different question; they are shown side by side, not averaged.
Living wage by family type
| Family | Living wage (per worker) | Gap to minimum | Poverty line, full-time |
|---|---|---|---|
| One adult, no children | $26.42 | +$19.17 | $7.67 |
| One adult, one child | $41.96 | +$34.71 | $10.40 |
| Two adults, two children, one full-time worker | $57.81 | +$50.56 | $15.87 |
| Two adults, two children, one full-time and one part-time worker | $38.54 | +$31.29 | $10.58 |
| Two adults, two children, two full-time workers | $28.91 | +$21.66 | $7.93 |
Utah’s minimum wage since 1968
- In 2025 dollars
- As paid
Hover or focus the chart and use the arrow keys to read any year.
| Year | State law | Federal | Owed at least | 2025 dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $7.44 |
| 2023 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $7.66 |
| 2022 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $7.98 |
| 2021 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $8.61 |
| 2020 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.02 |
| 2019 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.13 |
| 2018 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.30 |
| 2017 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.52 |
| 2016 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.73 |
| 2015 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.85 |
| 2014 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $9.86 |
| 2013 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $10.02 |
| 2012 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $10.17 |
| 2011 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $10.38 |
| 2010 | 7.25 | $7.25 | $7.25 | $10.70 |
| 2009 | 6.55 | $6.55 | $6.55 | $9.83 |
| 2008 | 5.85 | $5.85 | $5.85 | $8.75 |
| 2007 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $8.00 |
| 2006 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $8.22 |
| 2005 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $8.49 |
| 2004 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $8.78 |
| 2003 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $9.01 |
| 2002 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $9.22 |
| 2001 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $9.36 |
| 2000 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $9.63 |
| 1998 | 5.15 | $5.15 | $5.15 | $10.17 |
| 1997 | 4.75 | $4.75 | $4.75 | $9.53 |
| 1996 | 4.25 | $4.25 | $4.25 | $8.72 |
| 1994 | 4.25 | $4.25 | $4.25 | $9.23 |
| 1992 | 4.25 | $4.25 | $4.25 | $9.75 |
| 1991 | 3.80 | $3.80 | $3.80 | $8.98 |
| 1988 | 2.50 - 2.75(b) | $3.35 | $3.35 | $9.12 |
| 1981 | 2.50 - 2.75(b) | $3.35 | $3.35 | $11.86 |
| 1980 | 2.35 - 2.60(b) | $3.10 | $3.10 | $12.11 |
| 1979 | 2.20 - 2.45(b) | $2.90 | $2.90 | $12.86 |
| 1976 | 1.55 - 1.70(b) | $2.30 | $2.30 | $13.01 |
| 1972 | 1.20 - 1.35(b) | $1.60 | $1.60 | $12.32 |
| 1970 | 1.00 - 1.15(b) | $1.60 | $1.60 | $13.28 |
| 1968 | 1.00 - 1.15(b) | $1.60 | $1.60 | $14.80 |
(b) For the years indicated, the laws in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin applied only to women and minors.
For comparison, the federal minimum’s own peak was $14.80 in 2025 dollars, in 1968. See the federal history and every state.
Sources and methods
Every figure on this page comes from one of the datasets below. Wage rates and poverty guidelines are published by the government. The buying-power and productivity yardsticks are our own arithmetic on BLS data, using the method described under each source. The living wage is the Economic Policy Institute’s estimate, shown as EPI publishes it. Nothing is interpolated, and the four yardsticks are never combined.
History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938–2009
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Covers
- Every federal rate change, October 1938 to July 2009
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
The rate for workers covered by the original 1938 Act. From 1961 to 1978 workers brought in by later amendments had lower, phased-in rates, which DOL lists separately. A year’s rate here is the one in force on July 1.
Changes in Basic Minimum Wages in Non-Farm Employment Under State Law: Selected Years 1968 to 2024
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Covers
- 1968 to 2024, selected years, as of January 1
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Basic minimum wages in non-farm employment under state law. Cells are shown as DOL prints them, with stray typesetting marks removed; where DOL gives a range, charts use the highest rate in it. Rates set by the week or day are not converted to hourly.
Consolidated Minimum Wage Table
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
- Covers
- Effective Date: July 1, 2026
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
The current general state rate. Where DOL lists several, by employer size or by region, the one shown is named beside it with DOL’s own footnote; it is not always the first DOL lists. Where a state has no minimum or one below $7.25, employers covered by federal law must pay $7.25.
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, annual average
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Covers
- Annual averages, 1913 to 2025
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Series CUUR0000SA0. A past wage in today’s dollars is the wage times the later year’s annual average over the earlier year’s. BLS collected no October 2025 prices during that autumn’s lapse in appropriations; for 2025 this uses the annual average BLS published regardless.
Labor productivity (output per hour), nonfarm business sector, index
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Covers
- 1947 to 2025, BLS annual index values
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Series PRS85006093. Other productivity measures give other answers: the Economic Policy Institute’s often-quoted version uses net productivity of the whole economy, which has grown more slowly than this series, and lands lower.
Family Budget Calculator, 2026 edition: living wage standards
Economic Policy Institute
- Covers
- 2026 edition, 2025 dollars, all 50 states and DC
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
EPI’s “median state living wage” row: the population-weighted median county in each state, assuming all income comes from wages. Figures are per worker. EPI is a nonprofit think tank; its budgets are its own estimates, and its methodology document is linked here.
2026 Poverty Guidelines
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPE
- Covers
- 2026; separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii
- Last read
- October 15, 2026
Annual amounts by household size. Converted to hourly over 2,080 hours (40 hours, 52 weeks).
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