Salt Lake City, UT → Denver, CO
You'd keep $85 more a month in Denver
+$1,020 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 402 households moved Salt Lake City → Denver (avg AGI $77,560). 397 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Salt Lake City | Denver | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,708 | $8,253 | +$545 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,937 | $2,058 | +$120 |
| Take-home pay | $5,771 | $6,195 | +$425 |
| Rent | $1,269 | $1,490 | +$221 |
| Getting around | $519 | $551 | +$32 |
| Groceries | $396 | $420 | +$24 |
| Healthcare | $446 | $473 | +$27 |
| Utilities | $248 | $263 | +$15 |
| Everything else | $347 | $368 | +$21 |
| Left over | $2,547 | $2,632 | +$85 |
To break even in Denver, you'd need to earn
$97,500
Household gross, versus $92,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Salt Lake City does now.
The tax difference alone
+$493
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Salt Lake City, 24.9% in Denver.
More about Denver
Salt Lake City, UT in full
Four ski resorts inside an hour and a 23-minute average commute.
Denver, CO in full
Mountains in an hour, 245 sunny days, and a flat 4.4% state tax.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Denver on Denver wages.
Denver → Salt Lake City →Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.