Salt Lake City, UT vs Nashville, TN
Moving from Salt Lake City to Nashville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $455,958 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Nashville 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 $99,875 in Nashville, TN (−$125).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Nashville, TN: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,193 sqft in Nashville ($271 vs $228 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Nashville, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $21,576 | +$1,884 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,715 | −$21 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,130 | −$320 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,608 | +$168 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,200 | +$1,000 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $5,231 | −$4,498 |
| Total | $40,246 | $38,459 | −$1,787 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Nashville, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 97.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 3.80% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 8.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $455,958 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 5.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $228 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,798 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |