Moving to Utah from Illinois
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Illinois to Utah — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Illinois to Utah, you would find that Utah is 2.6% cheaper than Illinois. A $75,000 salary in Illinois would need to be roughly $73,100 in Utah to maintain the same lifestyle. Chicago and Salt Lake City are about 1,250 mi apart.
Is Utah cheaper than Illinois?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 2.3% less
Groceries
pay 8.2% less
Transportation
pay 7.8% more
Housing
pay 0.3% less
Childcare
pay 17.1% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 9.4% less
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Utah?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $73,100
To maintain the same standard of living in Utah
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Utah cost about 1% less than cities in Illinois.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Illinois and Utah stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Utah performs significantly better than Illinois across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Utah generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Illinois leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Illinois generally does better on what about housing?, though Utah leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Utah performs significantly better than Illinois across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Utah generally does better on employment & economy, though Illinois leads in gdp per capita.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Illinois generally does better on family life, though Utah leads in life expectancy.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Utah vs Illinois
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Chicago | Salt Lake City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 38°/22°F (3°/-6°C) | 45°/27°F (7°/-3°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 70°/48°F (21°/9°C) | 72°/48°F (22°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 80°/60°F (27°/16°C) | 87°/60°F (31°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/32°F (9°/0°C) | 51°/32°F (10°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Chicago | Salt Lake City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/17°F (-0.6°/-8.6°C) | 37°/22°F (3.0°/-5.8°C) |
| Feb | 35°/20°F (1.8°/-6.6°C) | 43°/25°F (6.2°/-3.8°C) |
| Mar | 47°/29°F (8.1°/-1.6°C) | 54°/34°F (12.1°/0.9°C) |
| Apr | 59°/39°F (15.0°/3.8°C) | 62°/40°F (16.4°/4.2°C) |
| May | 70°/48°F (21.1°/9.1°C) | 72°/48°F (22.2°/8.8°C) |
| Jun | 80°/58°F (26.5°/14.5°C) | 83°/56°F (28.3°/13.6°C) |
| Jul | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) | 93°/65°F (33.7°/18.2°C) |
| Aug | 82°/63°F (27.7°/17.2°C) | 90°/63°F (32.5°/17.4°C) |
| Sep | 75°/54°F (23.8°/12.4°C) | 79°/53°F (26.2°/11.7°C) |
| Oct | 62°/43°F (16.8°/6.0°C) | 65°/41°F (18.2°/5.2°C) |
| Nov | 48°/32°F (9.0°/0.2°C) | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.8°C) |
| Dec | 35°/21°F (1.6°/-6.3°C) | 38°/23°F (3.3°/-5.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Utah than Illinois?
Generally yes: Utah runs about 3% cheaper than Illinois on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Utah?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $18,275 in Utah for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Utah safe?
Utah performs significantly better than Illinois across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Utah compared to Illinois?
Utah generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Illinois leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Utah compared to Illinois?
The average high temperature in Salt Lake City is 64°F, compared to 59°F in Chicago. Salt Lake City receives around 16.1 in of rainfall per year, while Chicago gets 36.9 in.
