Salt Lake City, UT vs Charlotte, NC
Moving from Salt Lake City to Charlotte? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $390,321 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Charlotte 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 $100,183 in Charlotte, NC (+$183).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Charlotte, NC: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,561 sqft in Charlotte ($271 vs $195 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Charlotte, NC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $20,880 | +$1,188 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,834 | +$98 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,130 | −$320 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,752 | +$312 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,000 | +$800 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $8,740 | −$988 |
| Total | $40,246 | $41,336 | +$1,089 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Charlotte, NC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 97.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 4.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 10.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 53 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.54 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $390,321 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 5.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $195 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,740 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 9.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 6.98% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 16.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.20 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 400 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |