Denver, CO vs Salt Lake City, UT
Moving from Denver to Salt Lake City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($573,221 → $568,656 median home) and taxes.
Denver vs Salt Lake City at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Denver, CO, you'd need about $91,847 in Salt Lake City, UT (−$8,153).
Livability — Denver, CO: 52 · Salt Lake City, UT: 64 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,657 sqft in Denver vs 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City ($302 vs $271 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Denver, CO | Salt Lake City, UT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $22,920 | $19,692 | −$3,228 |
| Groceries | $5,079 | $4,736 | −$343 |
| Transportation | $4,050 | $3,450 | −$600 |
| Utilities | $1,788 | $1,440 | −$348 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $1,200 | −$1,600 |
| Taxes | $9,828 | $9,729 | −$99 |
| Total | $46,464 | $40,246 | −$6,218 |
Side by side
| Metric | Denver, CO | Salt Lake City, UT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 105.8 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.26% | 3.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.7% | 7.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.02 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $573,221 | $568,656 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.9× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.9% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $302 | $271 |
| Median rent | $1,910 | $1,641 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.7% | 12.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.77% | 7.19% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.40% | 4.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.79% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $450 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.5 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.60 |
| Natural gas / mo | $65 | $52 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $120 | $187 |
| Home internet / mo | $87 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 490 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 24 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 15.4 | 15.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.0 | 51.9 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 69% | 66% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |