Salt Lake City, UT vs San Diego, CA
Moving from Salt Lake City to San Diego? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $946,365 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs San Diego 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 $113,996 in San Diego, CA (+$13,996).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · San Diego, CA: 44 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 793 sqft in San Diego ($271 vs $631 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | San Diego, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $35,412 | +$15,720 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $5,112 | +$376 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $5,125 | +$1,675 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $3,804 | +$2,364 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,500 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $21,601 | +$11,873 |
| Total | $40,246 | $72,554 | +$32,308 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | San Diego, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 110.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 6.34% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 0.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 71 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $6.30 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $946,365 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 9.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -1.1% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $631 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $2,951 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 4.85 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 45 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |