Moving to Utah from Minnesota
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Minnesota to Utah — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Minnesota to Utah, you would find that Utah is 1.5% more expensive than Minnesota. A $75,000 salary in Minnesota would need to be roughly $76,100 in Utah to maintain the same lifestyle. Minneapolis and Salt Lake City are about 980 mi apart.
Is Utah cheaper than Minnesota?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 8.9% less
Groceries
pay 9.3% less
Transportation
pay 9.1% more
Housing
pay 11.6% more
Childcare
pay 7.0% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 12.2% 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 → $76,100
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 3% less than cities in Minnesota.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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
Minnesota 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
Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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
Minnesota performs better than Utah across all family life metrics.
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 Minnesota
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Minneapolis | Salt Lake City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 31°/15°F (0°/-10°C) | 45°/27°F (7°/-3°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 69°/48°F (20°/9°C) | 72°/48°F (22°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 78°/59°F (26°/15°C) | 87°/60°F (31°/16°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 42°/26°F (6°/-3°C) | 51°/32°F (10°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Minneapolis | Salt Lake City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24°/8°F (-4.6°/-13.6°C) | 37°/22°F (3.0°/-5.8°C) |
| Feb | 29°/13°F (-1.7°/-10.7°C) | 43°/25°F (6.2°/-3.8°C) |
| Mar | 41°/24°F (5.2°/-4.3°C) | 54°/34°F (12.1°/0.9°C) |
| Apr | 58°/37°F (14.3°/2.9°C) | 62°/40°F (16.4°/4.2°C) |
| May | 69°/49°F (20.8°/9.4°C) | 72°/48°F (22.2°/8.8°C) |
| Jun | 79°/59°F (26.0°/14.9°C) | 83°/56°F (28.3°/13.6°C) |
| Jul | 83°/64°F (28.6°/17.8°C) | 93°/65°F (33.7°/18.2°C) |
| Aug | 80°/62°F (26.9°/16.6°C) | 90°/63°F (32.5°/17.4°C) |
| Sep | 72°/52°F (22.1°/11.3°C) | 79°/53°F (26.2°/11.7°C) |
| Oct | 58°/40°F (14.4°/4.3°C) | 65°/41°F (18.2°/5.2°C) |
| Nov | 41°/26°F (5.1°/-3.2°C) | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.8°C) |
| Dec | 27°/12°F (-2.7°/-10.9°C) | 38°/23°F (3.3°/-5.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Utah than Minnesota?
Headline costs are within a few percent between Utah and Minnesota; rent and dining are where you'll actually feel differences.
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 $19,025 in Utah for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Utah safe?
Utah performs significantly better than Minnesota across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Utah compared to Minnesota?
Minnesota generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Utah leads in adult obesity rate.
What's the weather like in Utah compared to Minnesota?
The average high temperature in Salt Lake City is 64°F, compared to 55°F in Minneapolis. Salt Lake City receives around 16.1 in of rainfall per year, while Minneapolis gets 30.6 in.
