Salt Lake City cost of living is an important factor to consider if you’re considering a move to the are. Today I explore average home prices, apartment rental prices, utility costs, food and more. Check out the video about the cost of living in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Video Transcription
Can you afford to live in Salt Lake City, Utah? That’s exactly what we’re talking about today, cost of living in the Greater Salt Lake City, Utah area.
Hi, this is Melissa Ballman and I am a realtor here in the Greater Salt Lake City area. So what that means, if you’re looking at buying or selling real estate in the Greater Salt Lake City, Utah area, make sure you connect with me. I’d love to talk to you and discuss what your goals are. You can drop me a comment below, call, text, email, just get in touch with me so we can connect. And if you’re looking for something that is about the Greater Salt Lake City, Utah area, make sure you subscribe to my Facebook page, Salt Lake life, where we talk about all different happenings going on in the area.
So if you’re thinking about making a move to Salt Lake City, Utah area, this is the video for you. Today I’m going to talk about cost of living in Utah and more specifically the Salt Lake City area. I have a lot of people reach out to me, mostly people moving from California, my home state, that are looking at living here, and have questions. So today we’re going to talk about what do things cost in Salt Lake City, Utah. Now, this video is recorded in October of 2020, so just keep in mind it’s relative to when I recorded the video.
So first things first, let’s talk housing. You’ll see on the graph that I put up. Now, this graph is for Salt Lake County, Utah County and Davis County. Those are the main areas that I work in. And back in 2015, the average sales price was just over $250,000. Now, for third quarter 2020, average sales price is about $426,000. And that includes single family homes, condos, townhouses. And keep in mind, in Utah our homes are bigger than what you find typically in California and places like that. So I don’t have an estimate of what an average square footage is in the area, but that is the sales prices as they are now.
For property taxes, you can count on something around two to 3000 on average each year for property taxes. Of course, depending on the area that you live in, it can be less than that. If you have a really big house or certain areas, it can be more than that. I’ve seen property taxes on some really big houses, five and $6,000 a year. If you’re thinking about renting an apartment in Salt Lake City, I looked up just for a two bedroom in Salt Lake City itself, not any of the surrounding suburbs, you better plan on about $1,100 a month in rent as of right now. And of course, you can find things a little bit less than that, significantly more than that, but plan on about $1,100 a month. And that does not include your utilities, that’s just strictly rent.
And then if you want to be closer to right in downtown, for a two bedroom apartment, you’re talking at least $2,000 a month for right downtown. And I’ve seen some as high as $5,000 a month for rent, for a two bedroom apartment. Okay. So now let’s talk some utilities to give you a better idea. I pulled my utilities for the past year that I’ve paid and now keep in mind, this is for a 3,200 square foot house and everybody’s comfort levels are different and what temperatures they like to do and things like that. But for the past year for power bills, I’ve spent $2,500. So just over $200 a month average.
Now I will say my husband does work construction and so he likes it extremely cold when he comes home from work in the summer time. A lot of that was really high AC bills, just because of how cold he likes to keep the house. I’m talking like I’m usually wearing a sweater sometimes in the summertime. For gas bills, for heating we average about $30 per month. And our highest gas bill in the last year was $65 for the month, and that was in January of 2020.
If you’re liking my video, make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the bell, that way you’re alerted each week on Fridays when I drop my new video. So some everyday type groceries, just to give you an idea. And I wrote these down because I don’t have a photographic memory and I can’t remember everything. So gasoline for my car, just to give you an idea. I filled up four or five days ago at Costco and paid $2.09 per gallon for 85 octane fuel at Costco. A gallon of milk is anywhere from $2 to $3 a gallon. I shop at a local grocery store called Harmons. Right now they’re doing two gallons for $4, but their usual price is about $2.99. And of course, if you shop at other places, Costco or Walmart, Smith’s, things like that, it’s probably a little bit less than that.
Now, produce is where they get you in Utah. Coming from California, I’m always shocked at how expensive produce is in Utah. So to give you an example, apples are usually about $1.40 per pound. And then a dozen eggs at the local grocery store, Harmons, is about $1.50 a dozen. Now, if you’re thinking about making the move, like I said, reach out to me. I’d love to connect with you and talk to you more about your individual circumstances and answer any questions that you may have. You can call, text, or email me, drop a comment below, whatever works for you. I’m always here to help and as always make it a great day.