Moving to Minnesota from Utah
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Utah to Minnesota — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Utah to Minnesota, you would find that Minnesota is 1.4% cheaper than Utah. A $75,000 salary in Utah would need to be roughly $73,900 in Minnesota to maintain the same lifestyle. Salt Lake City and Minneapolis are about 980 mi apart.
Is Minnesota cheaper than Utah?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 9.7% more
Groceries
pay 10.3% more
Transportation
pay 8.3% less
Housing
pay 10.4% less
Childcare
pay 7.5% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 13.9% more
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 Minnesota?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $73,900
To maintain the same standard of living in Minnesota
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 Minnesota cost about 3% more than cities in Utah.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Utah and Minnesota 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 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
Utah generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Minnesota leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Minnesota performs significantly 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 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 significantly 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 Minnesota vs Utah
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Salt Lake City | Minneapolis |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 45°/27°F (7°/-3°C) | 31°/15°F (0°/-10°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 72°/48°F (22°/9°C) | 69°/48°F (20°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 87°/60°F (31°/16°C) | 78°/59°F (26°/15°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 51°/32°F (10°/0°C) | 42°/26°F (6°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Salt Lake City | Minneapolis |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37°/22°F (3.0°/-5.8°C) | 24°/8°F (-4.6°/-13.6°C) |
| Feb | 43°/25°F (6.2°/-3.8°C) | 29°/13°F (-1.7°/-10.7°C) |
| Mar | 54°/34°F (12.1°/0.9°C) | 41°/24°F (5.2°/-4.3°C) |
| Apr | 62°/40°F (16.4°/4.2°C) | 58°/37°F (14.3°/2.9°C) |
| May | 72°/48°F (22.2°/8.8°C) | 69°/49°F (20.8°/9.4°C) |
| Jun | 83°/56°F (28.3°/13.6°C) | 79°/59°F (26.0°/14.9°C) |
| Jul | 93°/65°F (33.7°/18.2°C) | 83°/64°F (28.6°/17.8°C) |
| Aug | 90°/63°F (32.5°/17.4°C) | 80°/62°F (26.9°/16.6°C) |
| Sep | 79°/53°F (26.2°/11.7°C) | 72°/52°F (22.1°/11.3°C) |
| Oct | 65°/41°F (18.2°/5.2°C) | 58°/40°F (14.4°/4.3°C) |
| Nov | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.8°C) | 41°/26°F (5.1°/-3.2°C) |
| Dec | 38°/23°F (3.3°/-5.2°C) | 27°/12°F (-2.7°/-10.9°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Minnesota than Utah?
Headline costs are within a few percent between Minnesota and Utah; rent and dining are where you'll actually feel differences.
How much money do I need to move to Minnesota?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $18,475 in Minnesota for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Minnesota safe?
Utah performs better than Minnesota across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Minnesota compared to Utah?
Utah generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Minnesota leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Minnesota compared to Utah?
The average high temperature in Minneapolis is 55°F, compared to 64°F in Salt Lake City. Minneapolis receives around 30.6 in of rainfall per year, while Salt Lake City gets 16.1 in.
