The electromagnetic induction sensor (EM38DD) is a field proven portable sensor for rapid measurement of the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of soils. Calibration with the electrical conductivity of saturation paste extracts is the most widely used method to correlate ECa with the effective electrical conductivity (ECe). A drawback of this method is the formation of ion pairs in the high ionic strength saturated paste extracts, which effectively decreases the measured ECe, leading to the underestimation of soil salinity. We hypothesize that the saturation paste extract can be diluted to a point where ion pair formation is minimized so that the ECe can be use to accurately predict soil salinity. A proof of concept model developed with three salts and a mixture of the three at an ionic strength of 0.4 M, showed that at dilution factors between 1:1,000 and 1:10,000, ion pair formation was minimized, the ECe values decreased to less than 0.04 dS m^-1, and calibration equations accurately predicted total dissolved solids (TDS) in the saturated paste extracts from the ECe values of the diluted extracts. This method was applied to the saturated paste extracts of 451 soil samples from 37 fields in Cache Valley, Utah. Mean ECe values of the saturated pastes, prepared from samples collected from 0- to 1.5-m soil depths at 0.3 m depth increment, ranged from 1.29 – 2.88 dS m^-1. A one-way analysis of variance showed that the means of the ECe values differ significantly with depth (α = 0.01 level). The soils and corresponding saturated paste extracts were thoroughly characterized (e.g., cations, anions, DOC, carbonate, bicarbonate, pH, ECe, CEC, % sand, % silt, % clay) to identify the properties correlated with significant deviations from the soil salinity calibration.