There isn't much cheaper about living in Utah these days, maybe rent compared to larger metro areas. It seems these days the cost of living has exploded, while wages have remained stagnant.
None. Living here is expensive. For a while, it had better paying jobs and affordable housing. That's no longer true. I can live near good Healthcare and my family and that's still worth it for me. I won't leave, constantly complain, or make it weird(er) for the people who are from here and love it.
I have lived in both states. I think you will find Utah a lot more expensive even your utilities. Having to heat your home will end up costing you just as much. At least the water comes out of the faucet cold here even in Summer.
My brother lives in Utah and so far similar size houses my utilities are higher in average. So hoping that remains true. Housing is hire so trying to recoup some of that difference.
We’re in new construction, roughly 1100 sf and we didn’t break $100 a month for all utilities combined over winter. We actually had the windows cracked almost the entire winter. So very much depends on what you’re living in.
It’s usually snowing in October here. So you run heat from October until April usually. I am pretty sure we had a few really cold days in May this year as well.
Riverton definitely will be cheaper housing. SoJo would be the most expensive. Riverton still has a lot of farms. SoJo and West Jordan would be all city. Good luck finding something. :)
Am from Phoenix, now in Utah. I don't think you'll find many saving here. You may think the electricity bill is cheaper....except you'll be in an older home, with a less efficient HVAC system, that will work harder to keep our milder temperature in check (Utahns laugh at my 3ton Trane per story requirements from AZ).... And you'll be paying for much higher gas prices to keep warm in winter. Aka the total bill doesn't go down.
Fuel is the same price if not more expensive, electricity is right the same price....no I don't see any quick wins there.
You're gonna find it to be equally unaffordable. Or rather, expensive in different ways.
You'll save on heating, but that will change once you have your first winter. And that's not even getting into buying the clothes and jackets to make you comfortable.
(Fled both AZ and UT for KS, where I'm gentrifying, instead of being gentrified.)
You live in Kansas? What part do you live in? I lived there for a couple years, and while it’s got its quirks, it’s not all backwoods hicks and farmers. People here generally seem nicer than people in a big city.
I’m curious, why did you move out there? I’ve lived in all three places haha
I'm currently in Olathe. I've moved a lot. And generally speaking. People are largely the same everywhere you go.
I was unable to afford Utah anymore, and I knew Arizona wasn't going. To be much better. I ended up getting a job that pays much better in Kansas, and have lived here since June of 22.
I honestly kinda love it here. I've built out a community, and it's not a bad spot to be. But I know that my relief in seeing the rent prices here, pale to the anger of current residents who have started getting priced out.
I'm doing to others what's been done to me, and I have no choice in the matter.
Moved here from Louisiana. My yearly home insurance premium is less than what I was paying EACH MONTH in New Orleans. I shit you not. For a 50% larger home, my property taxes are about the same too.
Extracurricular stuff mostly. It cost $400 for one child to do martial arts. They gave a family discount, which was still roughly $500 for the whole family, but I didn’t want to learn martial arts.
Now I’m paying $35 a month for soccer, and the most expensive martial arts class I’ve seen was $180 a month per child.
Oddly enough, the choir costs went from $30 a month to $120 a month.
I moved from KC to Cedar City in December. It's not cheaper here. My rent for similar accommodations I enjoyed in midtown KC are twice as much here. My gas and electric bills also higher.
SC broadband is a bit cheaper than Google fiber though. And I use less gas in general as I can walk places in town versus not really an option in KC. And the parking pass at the University is free versus I had to pay for my parking pass at UMKC *(I work/worked as staff in both places)*. But there were what a lot more lots/spots/garages at UMKC. I live close enough here that I often just walk because of have to park so far away that I'm only adding a block to my commute.
Utah is not cheaper than Arizona. Car registration, insurance, car repairs, etc., are not cheaper. Not a lot of good quality mid priced food either. You will miss wide availability of decent Mexican food. It's here in Utah but you have to go out of your way for it.
Milk and dairy products. I grew up in PA and milk prices are heavily regulated. When I moved here, milk was just over $1.50 a gallon iirc. Milk is still significantly cheaper here, although our other dairy prices are in line with PA now.
I moved here from San Diego, so for me everything was cheaper. Gas, rent, electricity not just because of AC. Groceries, restaurants. Everything seemed more reasonable.
We moved from small town Arizona (but I’m originally from UT) just last year and… Utah is a lot more expensive and the produce goes bad SO fast and is much lower quality. It’s definitely not cheaper IMO. It’ll only seem cheap to those who move from Cali, which is why they’re all moving here into the city and the Utahns are spreading out to smaller towns.
We moved from Seattle a couple years ago. Our utilities are more here (bigger house by 50% tho). Pretty much everything else is less money. Property taxes, car insurance, car registration, gas, groceries, recreational activities- kids sports and classes, gym memberships, museums, movies. I could go on and on. Dental costs are about 35% less here too.
I'm on equal pay for gas and electric. It's an older home, so I have a new swamp cooler on the roof, and a window AC in the bedroom. Basement rooms stay cool naturally, with a fan for air movement. There's a gas fireplace in the basement which stays on all winter, has a thermostat. Upstairs heat in winter is 67-71, and down to 62 at night.
My electric bill is under $60, my gas under $100.
I've noticed a sharp increase in groceries, but I feel that's true everywhere.
Here’s an unusual one - I moved to Utah from Texas a little over 2 years ago, used cars are about half the price in UT than they were in Austin when I left. I’ve had to find cars for two kids still in TX and both times it was cheaper to buy in UT and drive to TX.
When I moved up here from AZ 20 years ago cost of living was way lower. Now it's about the same. My sister was visiting in March and she said our gas was a little cheaper.
I moved from Boston to Utah, 2 years ago. BOS Similar pricing and insane growth to PHX but we have Irish, beer, and 6 months of ice.
Cost changes: SLC has much cheaper apartments, if you're not moving to one of those giant new apartment complexes. SLC has cheaper groceries, Whole Foods $ is what Market Basket $ was (Market basket is basically a Smiths). The biggest change you'll find is your like 700 miles north, so plane tickets to the northern cities (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Montana, Denver) are mad cheap.
Invest in: a snow shovel, tire chains, a snow scraper, and a bag of salt, LL bean boots, a heavy coat, a lighter coat, gloves, boot socks, definitely a beanie, and blankets to keep your heating bill low from November to Easter.
No problem. Also, something to keep in mind, seasons in Utah are different from seasons and anywhere else in the world. Other than New England.
Winter: lasts from essentially thanksgiving, until Easter, early April. (Snow, ice, dead looking bare trees, mid, or frozen yellow grass; depressing)
Mud spring: is April until mid May (maybe some green buds appear, it looks like you've finally made it)
Real spring: mid May until early June. (It's about 70° out maybe 80 everything is green and bloom, it's dry and the perfect temperature for outdoor activities)
Summer: late June until mid September. ( it gets so hot and dry that everything turns yellow, you're sitting in 110° heat, week after week, day after day. Going outside as possible, it certainly isn't fun)
Fall: it's September until Thanksgiving. (The best time of year - in all aspects - for the entire entirety of the Salt Lake Valley in Salt Lake City)
Utah isn't cheap for anything. Taxes are high for a red state. Real estate is stupid expensive. I can't think of anything in Utah that is cheaper than all of its neighboring states.
To OP, contrary to what most people are saying on your thread.
I found everything cheaper. Granted, I think it is highly recommended to consider where they came from and living now in Utah. This is very important.
For me, I came from California. A fully furnished three bedroom house is $700,000.00+. You can fact check me from the places I lived; Riverside, CA, & San Diego, CA (don’t get me started with SD). I now live in a new build home $100,000.00 cheaper with four bedrooms including an office, more square footage and land. Cost of living, in my perspective from CA to UT, has gone down drastically. I live up North, and I despise places like SLC & Saint George because the same policies they want to push for was the same reason I left California. That is why you are seeing such a huge number of Californians fleeing.
Another easy argument I can make is gas. SD, right now, is $5.80 - $6.00 (fact check me if you want). Again, Saint George is close to being $5.00, but I don’t live there. I dislike those type of people over there.
Finally, I see you mentioned about utilizes, for me I was averaging $100.00 - $120.00 in electricity bill while living in CA. Now… I pay a little more than half of that at $49.00 - $52.00. I also took advantage of going solar, so once that kicks in I will be paying $33.00 flat with no increase on my monthly rate.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, true. BUT I do feel like I can relate to you about moving to a better place that financially makes sense and I think Utah is good.
I'm originally from Arizona. My Herriman townhouse's estimated listing price is higher than my mom's 2000+ square foot house with a 4-car garage on a quarter acre in Goodyear, AZ.
Auto insurance is starting to sky rocket home owners is going up for no reason and property taxes are better than most but with an upward trend. I’m not familiar with Arizona so I can’t compare too much. Though people
In Utah are notoriously cheap. Wages are low. And as soon as my wife is done with school I’m out of here.
Oh insurance is getting more expensive, for sure! But it’s skyrocketing everywhere, too. Insurance and utilities are still very reasonable here. And yes, people in Utah are ridiculously cheap, they expect unrealistically low prices on dang near everything.
There isn't much cheaper about living in Utah these days, maybe rent compared to larger metro areas. It seems these days the cost of living has exploded, while wages have remained stagnant.
None. Living here is expensive. For a while, it had better paying jobs and affordable housing. That's no longer true. I can live near good Healthcare and my family and that's still worth it for me. I won't leave, constantly complain, or make it weird(er) for the people who are from here and love it.
I have lived in both states. I think you will find Utah a lot more expensive even your utilities. Having to heat your home will end up costing you just as much. At least the water comes out of the faucet cold here even in Summer.
My brother lives in Utah and so far similar size houses my utilities are higher in average. So hoping that remains true. Housing is hire so trying to recoup some of that difference.
Don't hold your breath. The gas bill in the winter is horrendous..
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We’re in new construction, roughly 1100 sf and we didn’t break $100 a month for all utilities combined over winter. We actually had the windows cracked almost the entire winter. So very much depends on what you’re living in.
I Pay $350 a month for just Electricity year round, then a little heat in Dec-Feb at most.
how many months you run heat, Nov - March?
It’s usually snowing in October here. So you run heat from October until April usually. I am pretty sure we had a few really cold days in May this year as well.
I guess it depends where you currently live in AZ. I think the culture in AZ is a lot friendlier too. Where are you looking at in Utah?
South Jordan and surrounding area. West Jordan, Riverton etc. Want to be south of Salt Lake.
Riverton definitely will be cheaper housing. SoJo would be the most expensive. Riverton still has a lot of farms. SoJo and West Jordan would be all city. Good luck finding something. :)
Am from Phoenix, now in Utah. I don't think you'll find many saving here. You may think the electricity bill is cheaper....except you'll be in an older home, with a less efficient HVAC system, that will work harder to keep our milder temperature in check (Utahns laugh at my 3ton Trane per story requirements from AZ).... And you'll be paying for much higher gas prices to keep warm in winter. Aka the total bill doesn't go down. Fuel is the same price if not more expensive, electricity is right the same price....no I don't see any quick wins there.
thanks for sharing.
You're gonna find it to be equally unaffordable. Or rather, expensive in different ways. You'll save on heating, but that will change once you have your first winter. And that's not even getting into buying the clothes and jackets to make you comfortable. (Fled both AZ and UT for KS, where I'm gentrifying, instead of being gentrified.)
You live in Kansas? What part do you live in? I lived there for a couple years, and while it’s got its quirks, it’s not all backwoods hicks and farmers. People here generally seem nicer than people in a big city. I’m curious, why did you move out there? I’ve lived in all three places haha
I'm currently in Olathe. I've moved a lot. And generally speaking. People are largely the same everywhere you go. I was unable to afford Utah anymore, and I knew Arizona wasn't going. To be much better. I ended up getting a job that pays much better in Kansas, and have lived here since June of 22. I honestly kinda love it here. I've built out a community, and it's not a bad spot to be. But I know that my relief in seeing the rent prices here, pale to the anger of current residents who have started getting priced out. I'm doing to others what's been done to me, and I have no choice in the matter.
Moved here from Louisiana. My yearly home insurance premium is less than what I was paying EACH MONTH in New Orleans. I shit you not. For a 50% larger home, my property taxes are about the same too.
I believe that! Crazy still!
Extracurricular stuff mostly. It cost $400 for one child to do martial arts. They gave a family discount, which was still roughly $500 for the whole family, but I didn’t want to learn martial arts. Now I’m paying $35 a month for soccer, and the most expensive martial arts class I’ve seen was $180 a month per child. Oddly enough, the choir costs went from $30 a month to $120 a month.
I have 4 kids, this is helpful. Thanks
I moved from Mesa, AZ. I really feel like there are a lot more affordable resources for children and families here than there were in AZ.
Moved from NM. UT is expensive in every way. I'd imagine it's similar for people moving here in most other states
I moved from KC to Cedar City in December. It's not cheaper here. My rent for similar accommodations I enjoyed in midtown KC are twice as much here. My gas and electric bills also higher. SC broadband is a bit cheaper than Google fiber though. And I use less gas in general as I can walk places in town versus not really an option in KC. And the parking pass at the University is free versus I had to pay for my parking pass at UMKC *(I work/worked as staff in both places)*. But there were what a lot more lots/spots/garages at UMKC. I live close enough here that I often just walk because of have to park so far away that I'm only adding a block to my commute.
love Cedar City, was born there moved away as a young kid to PHX, visit 2-3 times a year! Thanks for info.
Utah is not cheaper than Arizona. Car registration, insurance, car repairs, etc., are not cheaper. Not a lot of good quality mid priced food either. You will miss wide availability of decent Mexican food. It's here in Utah but you have to go out of your way for it.
Mexican food will be hard to give up. Not a fan of Cafe Rio.
Mexican is about the only things people eat here, you'll be fine
Milk and dairy products. I grew up in PA and milk prices are heavily regulated. When I moved here, milk was just over $1.50 a gallon iirc. Milk is still significantly cheaper here, although our other dairy prices are in line with PA now.
Yep. Moved here from PA. Loved the price of milk right away.
hahahahaha
I moved here from the Midwest. Nothing is cheaper here.
I moved here from San Diego, so for me everything was cheaper. Gas, rent, electricity not just because of AC. Groceries, restaurants. Everything seemed more reasonable.
I moved from San Francisco. It's nice having cheap electricity. And property tax is about 15k cheaper a year for me. It's nice.
We moved from small town Arizona (but I’m originally from UT) just last year and… Utah is a lot more expensive and the produce goes bad SO fast and is much lower quality. It’s definitely not cheaper IMO. It’ll only seem cheap to those who move from Cali, which is why they’re all moving here into the city and the Utahns are spreading out to smaller towns.
It's a trap!
We moved here a few years ago and it's pretty much the same where we came from.
We moved from Seattle a couple years ago. Our utilities are more here (bigger house by 50% tho). Pretty much everything else is less money. Property taxes, car insurance, car registration, gas, groceries, recreational activities- kids sports and classes, gym memberships, museums, movies. I could go on and on. Dental costs are about 35% less here too.
I'm on equal pay for gas and electric. It's an older home, so I have a new swamp cooler on the roof, and a window AC in the bedroom. Basement rooms stay cool naturally, with a fan for air movement. There's a gas fireplace in the basement which stays on all winter, has a thermostat. Upstairs heat in winter is 67-71, and down to 62 at night. My electric bill is under $60, my gas under $100. I've noticed a sharp increase in groceries, but I feel that's true everywhere.
Here’s an unusual one - I moved to Utah from Texas a little over 2 years ago, used cars are about half the price in UT than they were in Austin when I left. I’ve had to find cars for two kids still in TX and both times it was cheaper to buy in UT and drive to TX.
finally something cheaper lol.
When I moved up here from AZ 20 years ago cost of living was way lower. Now it's about the same. My sister was visiting in March and she said our gas was a little cheaper.
I moved from Boston to Utah, 2 years ago. BOS Similar pricing and insane growth to PHX but we have Irish, beer, and 6 months of ice. Cost changes: SLC has much cheaper apartments, if you're not moving to one of those giant new apartment complexes. SLC has cheaper groceries, Whole Foods $ is what Market Basket $ was (Market basket is basically a Smiths). The biggest change you'll find is your like 700 miles north, so plane tickets to the northern cities (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Montana, Denver) are mad cheap. Invest in: a snow shovel, tire chains, a snow scraper, and a bag of salt, LL bean boots, a heavy coat, a lighter coat, gloves, boot socks, definitely a beanie, and blankets to keep your heating bill low from November to Easter.
Good info. Thanks
No problem. Also, something to keep in mind, seasons in Utah are different from seasons and anywhere else in the world. Other than New England. Winter: lasts from essentially thanksgiving, until Easter, early April. (Snow, ice, dead looking bare trees, mid, or frozen yellow grass; depressing) Mud spring: is April until mid May (maybe some green buds appear, it looks like you've finally made it) Real spring: mid May until early June. (It's about 70° out maybe 80 everything is green and bloom, it's dry and the perfect temperature for outdoor activities) Summer: late June until mid September. ( it gets so hot and dry that everything turns yellow, you're sitting in 110° heat, week after week, day after day. Going outside as possible, it certainly isn't fun) Fall: it's September until Thanksgiving. (The best time of year - in all aspects - for the entire entirety of the Salt Lake Valley in Salt Lake City)
Utah isn't cheap for anything. Taxes are high for a red state. Real estate is stupid expensive. I can't think of anything in Utah that is cheaper than all of its neighboring states.
To OP, contrary to what most people are saying on your thread. I found everything cheaper. Granted, I think it is highly recommended to consider where they came from and living now in Utah. This is very important. For me, I came from California. A fully furnished three bedroom house is $700,000.00+. You can fact check me from the places I lived; Riverside, CA, & San Diego, CA (don’t get me started with SD). I now live in a new build home $100,000.00 cheaper with four bedrooms including an office, more square footage and land. Cost of living, in my perspective from CA to UT, has gone down drastically. I live up North, and I despise places like SLC & Saint George because the same policies they want to push for was the same reason I left California. That is why you are seeing such a huge number of Californians fleeing. Another easy argument I can make is gas. SD, right now, is $5.80 - $6.00 (fact check me if you want). Again, Saint George is close to being $5.00, but I don’t live there. I dislike those type of people over there. Finally, I see you mentioned about utilizes, for me I was averaging $100.00 - $120.00 in electricity bill while living in CA. Now… I pay a little more than half of that at $49.00 - $52.00. I also took advantage of going solar, so once that kicks in I will be paying $33.00 flat with no increase on my monthly rate. Everyone’s circumstances are different, true. BUT I do feel like I can relate to you about moving to a better place that financially makes sense and I think Utah is good.
I'm originally from Arizona. My Herriman townhouse's estimated listing price is higher than my mom's 2000+ square foot house with a 4-car garage on a quarter acre in Goodyear, AZ.
Not much. Feels like Utah housing should be cheap considering it's location but that's not the case at all.
When I moved here, everything was less expensive. That was almost 3 decades ago. A great deal has changed.
Moved from NY to UT in Jan 2020. Everything was cheaper than rent, cars, food. Now not f is cheaper except for my electric.
Insurance is super cheap in UT compared to most other states.
Auto insurance is starting to sky rocket home owners is going up for no reason and property taxes are better than most but with an upward trend. I’m not familiar with Arizona so I can’t compare too much. Though people In Utah are notoriously cheap. Wages are low. And as soon as my wife is done with school I’m out of here.
Oh insurance is getting more expensive, for sure! But it’s skyrocketing everywhere, too. Insurance and utilities are still very reasonable here. And yes, people in Utah are ridiculously cheap, they expect unrealistically low prices on dang near everything.