Salt Lake City, UT — Wages, Rent, Taxes & Livability by the Numbers

Salt Lake City has the relocation math people want from a mountain metro: above-average professional wages, a short average commute, and a real rail backbone. The catch is housing. Rent is still manageable compared with many coastal markets, but the best-located neighborhoods are no longer cheap.

BLS reported a mean hourly wage of $33.38 for the Salt Lake City-Murray metro in May 2024, which annualizes to about $69K for all occupations. Computer and mathematical roles annualize to about $113K, healthcare practitioners to about $99K, business and financial operations to about $89K, and education roles to about $65K. 1

For taxes, the card uses Utah's 2025 flat income-tax rate as listed by SmartAsset, Salt Lake City's 0% local income-tax position from the city tax page, the city's 8.45% sales-and-use tax, and SmartAsset's 0.51% effective property-tax estimate for Salt Lake County. 2 3 4

RentCafe publishes average apartment rents rather than true medians, so the rent card labels the numbers as average apartment rent and uses the 2025 prior-year values exposed on the neighborhood pages. Rose Park is the budget anchor at about $1,317, roughly 2.9 miles northwest of downtown. 5 Downtown sits around $1,682 at the city center. 6 Central City is about $1,796 roughly 1 mile east of downtown. 7 The Avenues, Sugar House, and Capitol Hill cluster near the high end at roughly $1,862 to $1,912. 8 9 10

U.S. News lists Salt Lake City's average commute at 17.94 minutes, below the national average, with 72.6% of commuters driving, 4.6% using public transportation, 3.9% walking, and 1.3% biking. 11 Walk Score rates the city at Walk 59, Transit 44, and Bike 74, which matches the practical reality: car-light living is possible in selected neighborhoods, but not citywide. 12 UTA's current system maps list TRAX Blue, Red, and Green lines, the S-Line, FrontRunner, and the downtown Free Fare Zone. 13

U.S. News gives Salt Lake City an overall score of 5.1/10 and a Value Index of 5.3/10, with median home value at $581,458, median rent at $1,472, unemployment at 3.81%, and average commute at 17.94 minutes. 11 The value case is strongest for people who can earn professional wages while choosing neighborhoods carefully. The main watch-outs are high home prices, winter inversion air quality, and the fact that transit access varies sharply by neighborhood.

Next city in the queue: Omaha, Nebraska.