Moving to Utah from Maine
What to Expect
Everything you need to know before relocating from Maine to Utah — costs, safety, healthcare, and practical first steps.
If you moved from Maine to Utah, you would find that Utah is 9.7% cheaper than Maine. A $75,000 salary in Maine would need to be roughly $67,700 in Utah to maintain the same lifestyle. Portland and Salt Lake City are about 2,100 mi apart.
Is Utah cheaper than Maine?
Where you'll feel the difference day-to-day
Restaurants
pay 13.3% less
Groceries
pay 22.4% less
Transportation
pay 26.7% more
Housing
pay 9.0% less
Childcare
pay 40.9% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 6.4% 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 → $67,700
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 6% less than cities in Maine.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
Key indicators for anyone considering a move from Maine to Utah.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Maine performs better than Utah 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
Maine generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Utah leads in adult obesity rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Maine performs better than Utah across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Utah performs significantly better than Maine 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 Maine leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Maine 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 Maine
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Portland | Salt Lake City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 36°/18°F (2°/-8°C) | 45°/27°F (7°/-3°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 63°/44°F (17°/7°C) | 72°/48°F (22°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 76°/56°F (24°/13°C) | 87°/60°F (31°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/30°F (9°/-1°C) | 51°/32°F (10°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Portland | Salt Lake City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/13°F (-0.4°/-10.3°C) | 37°/22°F (3.0°/-5.8°C) |
| Feb | 35°/16°F (1.4°/-8.7°C) | 43°/25°F (6.2°/-3.8°C) |
| Mar | 42°/25°F (5.6°/-3.9°C) | 54°/34°F (12.1°/0.9°C) |
| Apr | 53°/35°F (11.8°/1.5°C) | 62°/40°F (16.4°/4.2°C) |
| May | 64°/44°F (17.5°/6.8°C) | 72°/48°F (22.2°/8.8°C) |
| Jun | 73°/54°F (22.9°/12.0°C) | 83°/56°F (28.3°/13.6°C) |
| Jul | 79°/59°F (26.0°/15.2°C) | 93°/65°F (33.7°/18.2°C) |
| Aug | 78°/58°F (25.4°/14.6°C) | 90°/63°F (32.5°/17.4°C) |
| Sep | 70°/50°F (21.1°/10.2°C) | 79°/53°F (26.2°/11.7°C) |
| Oct | 59°/39°F (14.8°/3.8°C) | 65°/41°F (18.2°/5.2°C) |
| Nov | 48°/31°F (8.9°/-0.6°C) | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.8°C) |
| Dec | 37°/20°F (2.9°/-6.4°C) | 38°/23°F (3.3°/-5.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Utah than Maine?
Yes — Utah is on average about 10% cheaper than Maine. City-level variation can be significant.
How much money do I need to move to Utah?
Plan for at least 3 months of living expenses — roughly $16,925 in Utah on a $75,000 comparable salary — plus one-off moving costs (movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit).
Is Utah safe?
Maine performs better than Utah across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Utah compared to Maine?
Maine generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Utah leads in adult obesity rate.
What's the weather like in Utah compared to Maine?
The average high temperature in Salt Lake City is 64°F, compared to 56°F in Portland. Salt Lake City receives around 16.1 in of rainfall per year, while Portland gets 47.2 in.
