Salt Lake City, UT vs Atlanta, GA
Moving from Salt Lake City to Atlanta? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $382,938 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Atlanta 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 Salt Lake City, UT, you'd need about $103,434 in Atlanta, GA (+$3,434).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Atlanta, GA: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,677 sqft in Atlanta ($271 vs $187 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Atlanta, GA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $22,080 | +$2,388 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,926 | +$190 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,515 | +$65 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,656 | +$216 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,100 | +$900 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $10,533 | +$805 |
| Total | $40,246 | $44,810 | +$4,564 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Atlanta, GA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 100.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 5.04% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 6.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 56 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.72 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $382,938 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -2.1% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $187 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,840 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 8.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 7.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 5.39% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.85% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 32 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,100 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 15.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.15 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 370 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 34 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |