Salt Lake City, UT vs Austin, TX
Moving from Salt Lake City to Austin? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $428,524 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Austin 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 $101,164 in Austin, TX (+$1,164).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Austin, TX: 70 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,450 sqft in Austin ($271 vs $204 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Austin, TX | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $19,620 | −$72 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,647 | −$89 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,675 | +$225 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,836 | +$396 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $3,600 | +$2,400 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $9,558 | −$170 |
| Total | $40,246 | $42,936 | +$2,689 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Austin, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 4.30% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 14.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 52 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $428,524 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -6.0% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $204 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,635 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 8.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 8.20% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 1.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 17.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.00 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 96 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 38 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |