Phoenix, AZ · Salt Lake City, UT
Phoenix is 5% cheaper than Salt Lake City overall.
Home Price
Phoenix: $420,000
Salt: $485,000
Monthly Rent
Phoenix: $1,150/mo
Salt: $1,149/mo
COL Index
Phoenix: 106
Salt: 111
Median Income
Phoenix: $67,600
Salt: $77,200
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Phoenix has the same purchasing power as $104,717 in Salt Lake City — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Salt Lake City are 15% cheaper (-$65,000 less). That's a significant down payment and monthly payment difference.
Monthly rents are nearly identical in both cities. Median rent: $1,150/mo in Phoenix vs $1,149/mo in Salt Lake City.
On a median-priced home, Phoenix owners pay roughly $2,604/year in property taxes vs $2,571/year in Salt Lake City. That's a $34 annual difference.
Median household income is $67,600 in Phoenix and $77,200 in Salt Lake City. Phoenix residents earn 14% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 26 minutes in Phoenix vs 23 minutes in Salt Lake City. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Phoenix to Salt Lake City, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Phoenix | Equivalent in Salt Lake City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,358 | +$2,358 |
| $75,000 | $78,538 | +$3,538 |
| $100,000 | $104,717 | +$4,717 |
| $150,000 | $157,075 | +$7,075 |
| $200,000 | $209,434 | +$9,434 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
Mortgage Calculator
See monthly payments for homes in either city
Rent vs Buy
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in these markets?
Cost of Living
Full cost of living comparison tool
Home Appreciation
Project future home value growth
Affordability Calculator
How much home can you afford?
Property Tax Calculator
Estimate taxes in Phoenix or Salt Lake City
Phoenix Calculators
Salt Lake City Calculators
Based on cost of living indices, Phoenix is cheaper overall. Phoenix has a COL index of 106 while Salt Lake City scores 111 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Phoenix is $420,000 vs $485,000 in Salt Lake City — a difference of $65,000 (15%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Phoenix is equivalent to $104,717 in Salt Lake City in terms of purchasing power.
Salt Lake City has a lower property tax rate (0.53% vs 0.62%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $2,571/year vs $2,604/year.
Median monthly rent: $1,150 in Phoenix vs $1,149 in Salt Lake City. Annualized: $13,800 vs $13,788.
Phoenix: $67,600/yr. Salt Lake City: $77,200/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Phoenix typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .