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. 234

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. 8910

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.