Salt Lake City, UT vs Providence, RI
Moving from Salt Lake City to Providence? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $524,867 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Providence 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 $104,494 in Providence, RI (+$4,494).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Providence, RI: 58 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 1,524 sqft in Providence ($271 vs $328 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Providence, RI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $25,956 | +$6,264 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,922 | +$186 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,875 | +$425 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $3,060 | +$1,620 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,700 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $13,121 | +$3,393 |
| Total | $40,246 | $52,634 | +$12,387 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Providence, RI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 101.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 5.82% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 3.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.78 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $524,867 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 6.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 3.1% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $328 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $2,163 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 11.4% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 7.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 5.99% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 1.31% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $7,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $13,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,700 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 28.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.35 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 240 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 21 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 4 |