Salt Lake City, UT vs Las Vegas, NV
Moving from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $430,650 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Las Vegas 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 $101,175 in Las Vegas, NV (+$1,175).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Las Vegas, NV: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,206 sqft in Las Vegas ($271 vs $227 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Las Vegas, NV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $20,844 | +$1,152 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,841 | +$105 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $4,740 | +$1,290 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,548 | +$108 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,300 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $4,779 | −$4,950 |
| Total | $40,246 | $38,052 | −$2,195 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Las Vegas, NV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 7.66% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 7.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 64 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $430,650 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 6.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $227 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,737 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 9.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 8.23% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.51% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.12% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 14.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 4.20 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 95 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |