Salt Lake City, UT vs Pittsburgh, PA
Moving from Salt Lake City to Pittsburgh? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $231,356 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Pittsburgh 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 $97,489 in Pittsburgh, PA (−$2,511).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Pittsburgh, PA: 70 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 3,782 sqft in Pittsburgh ($271 vs $132 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Pittsburgh, PA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $18,324 | −$1,368 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,915 | +$179 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,440 | −$10 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $2,316 | +$876 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,200 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $8,069 | −$1,659 |
| Total | $40,246 | $38,264 | −$1,982 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Pittsburgh, PA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 94.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 5.09% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 0.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 53 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.39 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $231,356 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 3.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $132 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,527 |
| 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% | 1.44% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $7,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 27 |
| 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 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 390 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |