Nashville, TN vs Salt Lake City, UT
Moving from Nashville to Salt Lake City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($455,958 → $568,656 median home) and taxes.
Nashville 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 Nashville, TN, you'd need about $100,125 in Salt Lake City, UT (+$125).
Livability — Nashville, TN: 63 · Salt Lake City, UT: 64 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,193 sqft in Nashville vs 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City ($228 vs $271 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Nashville, TN | Salt Lake City, UT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $21,576 | $19,692 | −$1,884 |
| Groceries | $4,715 | $4,736 | +$21 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $3,450 | +$320 |
| Utilities | $1,608 | $1,440 | −$168 |
| Insurance | $2,200 | $1,200 | −$1,000 |
| Taxes | $5,231 | $9,729 | +$4,498 |
| Total | $38,459 | $40,246 | +$1,787 |
Side by side
| Metric | Nashville, TN | Salt Lake City, UT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.0 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.80% | 3.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.8% | 7.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 51 | 56 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.52 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $455,958 | $568,656 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.8× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $228 | $271 |
| Median rent | $1,798 | $1,641 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 7.6% | 12.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.55% | 7.19% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.55% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,300 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,200 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $450 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.9 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.60 |
| Violent crime /100k | 600 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 24 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |