Salt Lake City, UT vs Philadelphia, PA
Moving from Salt Lake City to Philadelphia? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $390,463 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Philadelphia 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 $105,371 in Philadelphia, PA (+$5,371).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Philadelphia, PA: 62 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,241 sqft in Philadelphia ($271 vs $223 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Philadelphia, PA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $22,968 | +$3,276 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,909 | +$173 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,440 | −$10 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $2,316 | +$876 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,200 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $10,192 | +$464 |
| Total | $40,246 | $45,025 | +$4,778 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Philadelphia, PA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 102.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 6.12% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 2.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.82 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $390,463 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $223 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,914 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 10.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 6.34% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 3.07% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 1.61% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $7,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 29 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 21.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.55 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $82 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $187 | $65 |
| Home internet / mo | $76 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 390 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 22 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 15.5 | 44.1 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 51.9 | 23.1 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 66% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |