Is Colorado Springs cheaper than Salt Lake City?

They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.

Which has higher household income, Colorado Springs or Salt Lake City?

Salt Lake City has the higher median household income — $100,548 versus $90,760 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 11% more.

Does a paycheck go further in Colorado Springs or Salt Lake City?

A paycheck stretches further in Salt Lake City. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $99,683 there versus $90,123 in Colorado Springs.

Which has cheaper rent, Colorado Springs or Salt Lake City?

Salt Lake City has cheaper rent — a median of $1,659/mo versus $1,761/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).

Colorado Springs vs Salt Lake City

Metro-area medians — Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area vs Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Salt Lake City comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.

Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City cost about the same to live in, but Salt Lake City households earn about 11% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Salt Lake City.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Annual salary (gross)

Household size

Colorado Springs, CO

$58,707

take-home / yr · 22% to tax

$58,294

real value after local prices

Salt Lake City, UT

$57,939

take-home / yr · 23% to tax

$57,440

real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Colorado Springs leaves you about $854/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure

Colorado Springs

Salt Lake City

Livability (CityLedger)

63/100

74/100

Cost of living (price level, US = 100)

100.7

100.9

Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)

$90,123

$99,683

Median household income

$90,760

$100,548

Median rent

$1,761/mo

$1,659/mo

Median home value

$487,900

$575,200

Unemployment

5.1%

Bachelor's degree or higher

42.8%

40.5%

Average commute

24.8 min

23.5 min

Air quality (median AQI)

Avg temperature

50°F

55°F

Choose Colorado Springs for

+ Median home value
+ Bachelor's degree or higher
+ Air quality (median AQI)

Full Colorado Springs profile →

Choose Salt Lake City for

+ Livability (CityLedger)
+ Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
+ Median household income
+ Median rent
+ Unemployment
+ Average commute

Full Salt Lake City profile →

Colorado Springs vs Salt Lake City — frequently asked

Is Colorado Springs cheaper than Salt Lake City?: They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Colorado Springs or Salt Lake City?: Salt Lake City has the higher median household income — $100,548 versus $90,760 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 11% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Colorado Springs or Salt Lake City?: A paycheck stretches further in Salt Lake City. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $99,683 there versus $90,123 in Colorado Springs.
Which has cheaper rent, Colorado Springs or Salt Lake City?: Salt Lake City has cheaper rent — a median of $1,659/mo versus $1,761/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).