Salt Lake City, UT vs Indianapolis, IN
Moving from Salt Lake City to Indianapolis? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $295,921 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Indianapolis 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 $97,432 in Indianapolis, IN (−$2,568).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Indianapolis, IN: 71 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 3,211 sqft in Indianapolis ($271 vs $156 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Indianapolis, IN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $18,636 | −$1,056 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,740 | +$4 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,250 | −$200 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,932 | +$492 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,600 | +$400 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $7,367 | −$2,361 |
| Total | $40,246 | $37,525 | −$2,721 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Indianapolis, IN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 94.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 4.28% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 6.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 55 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.39 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $295,921 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $156 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,553 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 9.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 7.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 3.05% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.84% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.20% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 17.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 360 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 86 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 20 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |