Salt Lake City, UT vs Columbus, OH
Moving from Salt Lake City to Columbus? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $333,537 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Columbus 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 $97,411 in Columbus, OH (−$2,589).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Columbus, OH: 69 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,474 sqft in Columbus ($271 vs $202 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Columbus, OH | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $18,288 | −$1,404 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,706 | −$30 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,025 | −$425 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $2,100 | +$660 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,300 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $9,711 | −$17 |
| Total | $40,246 | $39,130 | −$1,116 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Columbus, OH |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 94.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 4.20% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 5.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 54 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.38 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $333,537 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $202 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,524 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 10.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 7.24% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 3.50% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 1.46% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 19.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.25 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 300 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 20 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |