Salt Lake City, UT vs Virginia Beach, VA
Moving from Salt Lake City to Virginia Beach? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($568,656 → $373,678 median home) and taxes.
Salt Lake City vs Virginia Beach 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 $100,594 in Virginia Beach, VA (+$594).
Livability — Salt Lake City, UT: 64 · Virginia Beach, VA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City vs 2,677 sqft in Virginia Beach ($271 vs $187 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salt Lake City, UT | Virginia Beach, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,692 | $22,344 | +$2,652 |
| Groceries | $4,736 | $4,853 | +$117 |
| Transportation | $3,450 | $3,080 | −$370 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $1,872 | +$432 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,500 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $9,729 | $10,303 | +$574 |
| Total | $40,246 | $43,952 | +$3,705 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salt Lake City, UT | Virginia Beach, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.1 | 97.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.61% | 5.24% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.2% | 4.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 56 | 41 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.53 | $5.56 |
| Median home price | $568,656 | $373,678 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.3× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| Price per square foot | $271 | $187 |
| Median rent | $1,641 | $1,862 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.1% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.19% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.65% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.59% | 0.86% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $450 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.60 | 3.20 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 24 | 28 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |