Salt Lake City, UT vs Kansas City, MO
Moving from Salt Lake City to Kansas City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $329,641 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Kansas City 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 $95,942 in Kansas City, MO (−$4,058).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Kansas City, MO: 67 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,654 sqft in Kansas City ($271 vs $188 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Kansas City, MO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $18,576 | −$1,116 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,828 | +$92 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,390 | −$60 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,512 | +$72 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,400 | +$1,200 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $10,526 | +$798 |
| Total | $40,246 | $41,232 | +$985 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Kansas City, MO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 93.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 4.18% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 4.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 53 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.30 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $329,641 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 3.5% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $188 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,548 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 9.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 8.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 4.80% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 1.14% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.55% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,800 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 14.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.00 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |