Seattle, WA vs Salt Lake City, UT
Moving from Seattle to Salt Lake City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $568,656 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Salt Lake City 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 Seattle, WA, you'd need about $86,174 in Salt Lake City, UT (−$13,826).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Salt Lake City, UT: 64 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City ($417 vs $271 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Salt Lake City, UT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $19,692 | −$7,092 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $4,736 | −$669 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $3,450 | −$625 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,440 | −$108 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,200 | −$300 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $9,729 | +$903 |
| Total | $48,138 | $40,246 | −$7,892 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Salt Lake City, UT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 3.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 7.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 47 | 56 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $568,656 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $271 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $1,641 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 12.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 7.19% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 4.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $450 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 3.60 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 24 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |