Cost Of Living in Salem, UT

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Salem	Utah	National
Cost of living	123	104	100
Goods & Services	102	102	100
Groceries	98	99	100
Health care	96	91	100
Housing	176	114	100
Transportation	107	105	100
Utilities	91	95	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Salem is 18% higher than the Utah average
The cost of living in Salem is 23% higher than the national average
Salem housing is 76% higher than the national average
Utah general sales tax is 20% higher than the national average
Utah state income tax is 87% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$91,014	$7,585	$2,124	$2,731
Renters	$56,111	$4,676	$1,309	$1,683

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Salem is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Salem has a median income of about $91,014 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $2,124 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $56,111. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $1,309 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Utah Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Utah	6.1%	8.35%

Utah Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Utah	4.85%	4.85%

Goods & Services

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$20.85	$24.26	14.1%
Beauty Salon	$48.42	$45.56	6.3%
Toothpaste	$3.58	$3.70	3.4%
Shampoo	$1.18	$1.28	7.6%
Movie	$12.31	$12.13	1.5%
Bowling	$20.93	$18.00	16.3%

Groceries

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.79	$5.84	0.9%
Fried Chicken	$1.39	$1.57	11.9%
Milk	$4.62	$4.67	1.2%
Potatoes	$4.61	$4.93	6.6%
Pizza	$12.02	$12.09	0.5%
Beer	$10.69	$10.41	2.6%

Health Care

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$119.08	$125.68	5.3%
Doctor	$128.07	$135.78	5.7%
Dentist	$99.10	$113.29	12.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.51	$10.65	1.3%
Lipitor	$546.75	$468.60	16.7%

Housing

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$362,600.00	$184,700.00	96.3%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,790.73	$2,346.69	18.9%
Apartment Rent	$1,222.00	$949.00	28.8%

Transportation

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.58	$3.46	3.4%
Tire Balancing	$69.63	$59.92	16.2%

Utilities

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$165.50	$193.99	14.7%
Phone	$192.69	$192.25	0.2%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Rocky Ridge, UT	1,069	104	3.8%
Goshen, UT	929	104	4.2%
Payson, UT	20,181	109	8.9%
Santaquin, UT	12,276	111	11.3%
Provo, UT	116,886	112	12.4%
Salem, UT	8,403	123	22.8%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Kapuskasing, ON	8,403	n/a
Arab, AL	8,405	92	8.2%
Cape St. Claire, MD	8,405	134	33.5%
Socorro, NM	8,406	91	9.5%
Greenville, MI	8,407	86	14.3%
Salem, UT	8,403	123	22.8%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Salem, UT