Las Vegas, NV vs Salt Lake City, UT
Moving from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($430,650 → $568,656 median home) and taxes.
Las Vegas 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 Las Vegas, NV, you'd need about $98,839 in Salt Lake City, UT (−$1,161).
Livability — Las Vegas, NV: 65 · Salt Lake City, UT: 64 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas vs 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City ($227 vs $271 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Las Vegas, NV | Salt Lake City, UT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,844 | $19,692 | −$1,152 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $4,736 | −$105 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $3,450 | −$1,290 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,440 | −$108 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,200 | −$100 |
| Taxes | $4,779 | $9,729 | +$4,950 |
| Total | $38,052 | $40,246 | +$2,195 |
Side by side
| Metric | Las Vegas, NV | Salt Lake City, UT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.66% | 3.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 7.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 56 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $430,650 | $568,656 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.2× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.7% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $227 | $271 |
| Median rent | $1,737 | $1,641 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 12.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 7.19% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $450 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 3.60 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 24 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |