Salt Lake City, UT vs Portland, OR
Moving from Salt Lake City to Portland? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $552,022 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Portland 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 $109,850 in Portland, OR (+$9,850).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Portland, OR: 55 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 1,540 sqft in Portland ($271 vs $325 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Portland, OR | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $21,564 | +$1,872 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $5,240 | +$504 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,680 | +$230 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,704 | +$264 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $900 | −$300 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $14,382 | +$4,654 |
| Total | $40,246 | $47,470 | +$7,224 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Portland, OR |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 106.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 5.06% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 5.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 38 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $6.07 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $552,022 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 6.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -1.1% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $325 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,797 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 10.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 0.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 9.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.92% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $900 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $600 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 15.8 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 4.10 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 340 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 34 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 4 |