Salt Lake City Guide
ABA Programs in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City pairs the sixth-highest top decile of any metro in this guide with a cost of living at the national average, and the Wasatch Front puts three universities within forty-five miles of downtown. One of them prices tuition by church membership rather than residency, which is unlike anything else on this site and worth understanding before you compare figures.
Key Takeaways
- 01The 90th percentile here is $112,810 — the sixth-highest of the fifty metros in this guide — against a 10th percentile of $36,820. That $75,990 spread is the third-widest here.
- 02The University of Utah's M.Ed. with an ABA track is the in-metro option: 32 credits delivered online at a flat $620 per credit for residents and non-residents alike.
- 03BYU in Provo prices tuition by Latter-day Saint church membership rather than state residency — $364 per credit for members and $728 for non-members. No other program in this guide works that way, and it means the usual in-state comparison does not apply.
- 04Utah State in Logan runs a 36-credit M.Ed. charged at the same rate to residents and non-residents, and holds Utah's federally designated UCEDD.
- 05URLEND, run from the University of Utah, is a multi-state LEND covering Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming — a regional training program rather than a single-state one.
Salt Lake City has the most interesting pay distribution of any Mountain West metro in this guide. Its median of $63,100 is tenth-highest of the fifty covered here, and its 90th percentile of $112,810 is sixth — ahead of Washington DC, Los Angeles and New York. Its 10th percentile of $36,820 is low. The gap between those two numbers, $75,990, is the third-widest in this guide, which means the credential carries more weight here than in almost any other market.
Three universities on the Wasatch Front offer routes to it. The University of Utah, in the metro, runs a 32-credit M.Ed. with an ABA track online at a flat $620 per credit. Utah State University in Logan, eighty miles north, runs a 36-credit M.Ed. in Special Education with ABA coursework, charged at the same rate regardless of residency, on campus and online. And Brigham Young University in Provo, forty-five miles south, runs a 36-credit M.S. in Special Education with an ABA specialization.
BYU needs a note that no other program in this guide requires. Its tuition is set by Latter-day Saint church membership rather than state residency: $364 per credit for members of the church and $728 for non-members. That is not an in-state and out-of-state distinction, and comparing BYU's figure to a public university's resident rate without understanding that will mislead you. A Utah resident who is not a church member pays the higher figure; a church member from another state pays the lower one.
Metro scope
Includes: Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, West Jordan, Draper, Tooele, Magna. The Salt Lake City-Murray metro, covering Salt Lake and Tooele counties — the city, the west-side suburbs through West Valley City and Magna, and the south valley from Murray and Sandy down to Draper. Provo-Orem and Ogden are separate metros on the same Wasatch Front corridor.
Note: Utah is a single-state metro, and the geography that matters is the Wasatch Front rather than a border. Utah licenses behavior analysts through the Division of Professional Licensing and has since 2015. Your BCBA is the qualifying credential and the state license is your practice authority. What is distinctive here is the corridor: Provo-Orem is forty-five miles south and Logan eighty miles north, each a separate metropolitan area and each holding a university with an ABA route. The state's federally designated developmental disabilities center is at Utah State in Logan, while the region's LEND program runs from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City — so Utah splits its two federal designations between two ends of the corridor.
The programs
Every one of the BCBA programs along the Wasatch Front
3 programs
University of Utah — M.Ed. with an Applied Behavior Analysis track
Salt Lake City; delivered online · Salt Lake City, UT · No commute; online delivery
- Tuition
- $620 per credit hour, the same rate for residents and non-residents
- Length
- 32 credits, 2 years
- Format
- Online
- Accreditation
- BACB-aligned coursework for BCBA Pathway 2; University of Utah
- Part-time
- Online delivery designed for working professionals
- The only ABA route based inside the Salt Lake City metro
- Thirty-two credits, the shortest of the three Wasatch Front programs
- A flat $620 per credit for residents and non-residents alike, so out-of-state students pay the Utah rate
- The same university runs URLEND, the six-state regional LEND program
- Placements through University of Utah Health and Primary Children's Hospital are part of the local network
Utah State University — M.Ed. in Special Education with ABA coursework
Logan, about 80 miles north; on campus and online · Logan, UT · Online delivery makes the distance optional
- Tuition
- Published per-credit rates are on the Utah State student financial services page; USU charges the same rate to residents and non-residents
- Length
- 36 credits, 2 years
- Format
- On-campus and online
- Accreditation
- BACB-aligned coursework for BCBA Pathway 2; USU Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
- Part-time
- Online delivery designed for working professionals
- Charged at the same rate regardless of residency, and the cheapest of the three on published rates
- Utah State holds the state's federally designated UCEDD, the Institute for Disability Research, Policy and Practice
- One of the longer-established behavior analysis training routes in the Mountain West
- A special education framing, so the degree reads as an education credential to a Utah district
- Eighty miles from Salt Lake City, but online delivery means the distance need not be traveled
Brigham Young University — M.S. in Special Education with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis
Provo, about 45 miles south · Provo, UT · On-campus in Provo; a genuine commute from the Salt Lake valley
- Tuition
- $364 per credit hour for Latter-day Saint church members, $728 per credit hour for non-members — a membership distinction, not a residency one
- Length
- 36 credits, 2 years
- Format
- On-campus
- Accreditation
- BACB-aligned coursework for BCBA Pathway 2; BYU Counseling Psychology and Special Education
- Part-time
- A campus program; confirm pacing with the department
- Tuition is set by Latter-day Saint church membership rather than state residency — $364 per credit for members, $728 for non-members
- That means a Utah resident who is not a church member pays the higher rate, and a church member from any state pays the lower one
- At $364 per credit for members this is among the cheapest routes in the Mountain West; at $728 it is the most expensive of the three Utah options
- Campus-based in Provo, forty-five miles south of downtown Salt Lake City
- Strong placement links into Utah County districts and the Provo-Orem service network
Cost of living
What it costs to live in Salt Lake City while you study
Salt Lake City costs almost exactly the national average overall — 0.9% above on the BEA index — with housing 23.3% above it. The gap between those two numbers is the story: everything except housing is cheap here, and housing has risen sharply with the Wasatch Front's growth. The metro is compact and hemmed in by mountains, which keeps drive times short, and TRAX light rail covers the valley better than most western transit systems.
Housing, 2024
123.3
23.3% above the national average
Everything, 2024
100.9
0.9% above the national average
Metro median pay covers
$62,537
of national-average spending
Housing runs 23.3% above the national average, which is the single biggest reason the overall cost of living lands where it does.
Both figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for Salt Lake City-Murray, UT, 2024, where the national average is 100. Housing is the services-housing component; the second figure is the whole basket.
Housing price level
23.3% above the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity for housing, 2024
All-items price level
0.9% above the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity, all items, 2024; effectively level
Transit
UTA TRAX light rail, FrontRunner and bus
TRAX covers the valley and FrontRunner runs the Wasatch Front corridor to Provo and Ogden
Car
Useful but not always essential
Valley caseloads can work on TRAX; Tooele County and corridor work cannot
Tuition, University of Utah M.Ed. (all students)
$620 per credit hour
Flat rate for residents and non-residents; 32 credits
Tuition, Utah State M.Ed. (all students)
Published on the USU student financial services page
Same rate regardless of residency; 36 credits
Tuition, BYU M.S.
$364 per credit for church members, $728 for non-members
Set by Latter-day Saint church membership, not by state residency; 36 credits
Clinical fieldwork
BCBA certification in Salt Lake City: where Wasatch Front students do supervised fieldwork
Utah splits its federal developmental disabilities designations between the two ends of the Wasatch Front: the UCEDD is at Utah State in Logan, and the region's LEND program runs from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. URLEND is unusual in itself — a six-state regional program rather than a single-state one — which gives trainees a network across the Mountain West.
URLEND
The Utah Regional LEND program, run from the University of Utah, covers Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming — a multi-state training network rather than a single-state one.
Primary Children's Hospital
Primary Children's Hospital, part of Intermountain Health, is the referral pediatric hospital for a very large Mountain West catchment and the top of the local clinical tier.
Institute for Disability Research, Policy and Practice
The IDRPP at Utah State in Logan is Utah's federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
Wasatch Front school districts
Granite School District, Jordan and Canyons cover the Salt Lake valley and all run substantial special education programs.
Utah Medicaid and commercial providers
Providers funded through Utah Medicaid and commercial insurance operate along the corridor, with the fastest-growing demand in Utah County to the south.
Hiring market
Major ABA employers across the Salt Lake City metro
The Salt Lake City employer market has one dominant clinical institution, several large valley school districts and a private agency layer. Primary Children's Hospital takes referrals from across the Mountain West, which gives it a caseload complexity unusual for a metro of 1.3 million and is a plausible contributor to the metro's high top decile — specialist clinical roles at a regional referral center pay differently from community agency work.
Primary Children's Hospital
Pediatric referral hospital
Part of Intermountain Health and the referral pediatric center for a very large Mountain West catchment, with developmental and behavioral services.
University of Utah Health
Academic health system
The metro's academic medical system and the host of URLEND, the six-state regional LEND program.
Granite School District
Public school district
One of Utah's largest districts, covering much of the Salt Lake valley, and a substantial employer of behavior support staff.
Jordan School District
Public school district
A large south-valley district in one of the fastest-growing parts of the metro, with substantial special education provision.
Institute for Disability Research, Policy and Practice
University center for developmental disabilities
Utah's UCEDD at Utah State University in Logan, working across research, training, services and policy.
Side by side
Comparing the 3 Salt Lake City programs
The same programs as above, set against each other on the things that decide which one you apply to: how it is delivered, how long it runs, what it costs, and whether it asks for the GRE.
| Program | Format | Length | Tuition | GRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Utah — M.Ed. with an Applied Behavior Analysis track Salt Lake City, UT | Online | 32 credits, 2 years | $620 per credit hour, the same rate for residents and non-residents | Not required |
| Utah State University — M.Ed. in Special Education with ABA coursework Logan, UT | On-campus and online | 36 credits, 2 years | Published per-credit rates are on the Utah State student financial services page; USU charges the same rate to residents and non-residents | Not required |
| Brigham Young University — M.S. in Special Education with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis Provo, UT | On-campus | 36 credits, 2 years | $364 per credit hour for Latter-day Saint church members, $728 per credit hour for non-members — a membership distinction, not a residency one | Not required |
Metro pay
BCBA salary in the Salt Lake City-Murray metro
Metro median
$63,100
National median
$59,350
10th percentile
$36,820
90th percentile
$112,810
BLS metro median, May 2025
$63,100
$3,750 above the national median
Cost of living, 2024
100.9
0.9% above the national average
Worth nationally
$62,537
the same pay in national-average dollars
Because prices run 0.9% above the national average, $63,100 here goes about as far as $62,537 would nationally.
BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts. This is the May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the category BCBAs are counted in, which also contains counseling roles that typically pay less. Read it as a floor for the metro, not as BCBA pay. Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Salt Lake City-Murray, UT. Cost of living is the BEA Regional Price Parity for the metro, all items, 2024, where the national average is 100. It is the most recent year BEA publishes, so it sits one year behind the wage figure. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities.
The published figure for this metro is $63,100, the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, across the Salt Lake City-Murray metro. That is $3,750 above the national median of $59,350 for the same code, and tenth-highest of the fifty metros on this site. BLS publishes no separate occupation for behavior analysts, and SOC 21-1018 also contains counseling roles requiring neither a master's nor board certification, so read $63,100 as a floor rather than as BCBA pay.
The distribution is where Salt Lake City stands out. The 90th percentile is $112,810, sixth-highest in this guide — ahead of Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Diego and New York — while the 10th is $36,820. That $75,990 spread is the third-widest of the fifty metros here, behind only San Francisco and Sacramento. In a market with a spread that wide, the difference between an entry-level behavioral health role and a board certified one is the single biggest variable in your income.
On cost, prices run 0.9% above the national average, so $63,100 goes about as far as $62,537 would nationally — almost no erosion. Housing runs 23.3% above national, which is the one pressure point and reflects a decade of rapid growth along the Wasatch Front. For national context see our BCBA salary guide.
Other cities
Other cities in Utah
Salt Lake City is currently the only Utah metro with its own guide. The state guide carries every program in Utah plus the licensure picture.
Nearby metros
If you are flexible on metro
The Mountain West comparisons are Denver and Las Vegas, both within a day's drive and both with their own licensing arrangements. Denver is the larger market; Las Vegas is the cheaper one.
ABA Programs in Denver
The region's largest market, where Colorado licensure becomes mandatory in July 2028.
ABA Programs in Las Vegas
Six hours southwest, licensed since 2009 through a standalone board, with one program and one very large district.
ABA Programs in Utah
The full state picture: all three Wasatch Front programs, the 2015 license, and the UCEDD at Utah State.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
01How many ABA programs are in Salt Lake City?+
02Why does BYU's tuition depend on church membership?+
03Do I need a license to practice ABA in Salt Lake City?+
04How much do BCBAs make in Salt Lake City?+
05Where do Wasatch Front ABA students do supervised fieldwork?+
06Is Salt Lake City a good place to build a BCBA career?+
Sources
- University of Utah, M.Ed. with an Applied Behavior Analysis track
- Utah State University, M.Ed. in Special Education with ABA coursework
- Brigham Young University, M.S. in Special Education with a specialization in ABA
- Utah Regional LEND, University of Utah
- Institute for Disability Research, Policy and Practice, Utah State University (UCEDD)
- Utah Division of Professional Licensing
- BACB, U.S. Licensure of Behavior Analysts by State
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Salt Lake City-Murray MSA (SOC 21-1018)