Route comparison
Denver, CO vs Salt Lake City, UT: Cost of Living
Compare Denver, CO and Salt Lake City, UT using historical BEA 2024 price indexes and HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR benchmarks. Add your own salary, lease and moving quote to a budget summary.
Denver, CO
CO
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 105.782
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 146.919
- 2024 goods RPP
- 100.957
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $2,169/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Salt Lake City, UT
UT
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 100.868
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 123.311
- 2024 goods RPP
- 96.446
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,615/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Historical RPP salary illustration
In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Salt Lake City, UT has a lower overall price level than Denver, CO by about 4.6% (RPP 105.782 to 100.868).
$60,000 in Denver, CO
-> $57,213
in Salt Lake City, UT
$100,000 in Denver, CO
-> $95,355
in Salt Lake City, UT
$150,000 in Denver, CO
-> $143,032
in Salt Lake City, UT
Salary illustrations use BEA 2024 overall Regional Price Parities (RPP) only, before tax and household-specific adjustments. Overall RPP already includes housing. HUD FY2027 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a separate historical gross-rent benchmark, not a current lease or median rent. Do not add rent to the RPP salary figure. Your lease and moving quote belong in a separate budget. Not financial advice.
Step 2: what will the move itself cost?
Put your actual lease, deposit, overlap rent and mover quote beside the historical salary illustration. Leave amounts you do not yet know blank.
Migration signal: Denver, CO vs Salt Lake City, UT
IRS tax-return migration · 2022-2023Denver, CO
- Net people
- +4,731
- Net rank
- #16 of 65
- Top origin share
- 8%
- Top destination share
- 10%
Largest source: Boulder County, CO. Largest destination: Weld County, CO.
Salt Lake City, UT
- Net people
- −7,244
- Net rank
- #54 of 65
- Top origin share
- 23%
- Top destination share
- 27%
Largest source: Utah County, UT. Largest destination: Utah County, UT.
Rent delta: Salt Lake City, UT is $554/mo lower for HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR than Denver, CO. Housing RPP moves from 146.919 to 123.311.
Migration figures are derived from IRS SOI county-to-county migration data for 2022-2023, mapped to metros via Census CBSA delineation. Small county-to-county flows are IRS-suppressed, so per-metro totals are lower bounds. Source: IRS SOI migration data.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Salt Lake City, UT cheaper or more expensive than Denver, CO?
- In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Salt Lake City, UT (RPP 100.868) has an overall price level about 4.6% lower than Denver, CO (RPP 105.782). This does not measure your current household costs.
- What salary do I need in Salt Lake City, UT if I earn $100,000 in Denver, CO?
- The historical RPP illustration is approximately $95,355 in Salt Lake City, UT, using $100,000 x (100.868 / 105.782). It uses BEA 2024 overall price indexes before tax and household adjustments; HUD rent is not added to this figure.
- Which metro had stronger net migration, Denver, CO or Salt Lake City, UT?
- For 2022-2023, Denver, CO had a net gain of 4,731 people, while Salt Lake City, UT had a net loss of 7,244 people. IRS small-flow suppression means these are lower-bound research signals, not complete population-change totals.