Tampa, FL vs Salt Lake City, UT
Moving from Tampa to Salt Lake City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($360,738 → $568,656 median home) and taxes.
Tampa 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 Tampa, FL, you'd need about $94,801 in Salt Lake City, UT (−$5,199).
Livability — Tampa, FL: 65 · Salt Lake City, UT: 64 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,564 sqft in Tampa vs 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City ($195 vs $271 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Tampa, FL | Salt Lake City, UT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $24,216 | $19,692 | −$4,524 |
| Groceries | $4,949 | $4,736 | −$213 |
| Transportation | $4,800 | $3,450 | −$1,350 |
| Utilities | $1,656 | $1,440 | −$216 |
| Insurance | $4,200 | $1,200 | −$3,000 |
| Taxes | $4,642 | $9,729 | +$5,087 |
| Total | $44,463 | $40,246 | −$4,216 |
Side by side
| Metric | Tampa, FL | Salt Lake City, UT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 102.5 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.92% | 3.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.3% | 7.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 51 | 56 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.83 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $360,738 | $568,656 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.4× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -3.4% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $195 | $271 |
| Median rent | $2,018 | $1,641 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.1% | 12.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.02% | 7.19% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.80% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,500 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $4,200 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,900 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,400 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $450 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 15.4 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 3.60 |
| Violent crime /100k | 380 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 52 | 24 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |