Overall
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 101.1
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- 100.9
Diff -0.3 RPP
Fort Collins-Loveland vs Salt Lake City-Murray
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salt Lake City-Murray is 0.3% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland.
0.3% less expensive
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT is 0.3% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland, CO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.9 vs 101.1). A $100,000 salary in Fort Collins-Loveland buys about the same as $99,743 in Salt Lake City-Murray; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.1 (Fort Collins-Loveland) vs 100.9 (Salt Lake City-Murray)
- $100k in Fort Collins-Loveland ≈ $99,743 purchasing power in Salt Lake City-Murray
- Services drives the gap (-3.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CO:UT 101.1→100.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CO × UT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Fort Collins-Loveland
101.1
Cost Index
Salt Lake City-Murray
100.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO and Salt Lake City-Murray, UT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Salt Lake City-Murray is 3.2 points lower. But rents and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Fort Collins-Loveland to $99,743 in Salt Lake City-Murray, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
Diff -3.2 RPP
Rents
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 120.6
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- 123.3
Diff +2.7 RPP
| Category | Fort Collins-Loveland | Salt Lake City-Murray | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.1 | 100.9 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 96.4 | +0.4 |
| Services | 82.2 | 79.0 | -3.2 |
| Rents | 120.6 | 123.3 | +2.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Collins-Loveland 101.1
Salt Lake City-Murray 100.9
Goods
Fort Collins-Loveland 96.1
Salt Lake City-Murray 96.4
Services
Fort Collins-Loveland 82.2
Salt Lake City-Murray 79.0
Rents
Fort Collins-Loveland 120.6
Salt Lake City-Murray 123.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Collins-Loveland would need to be in Salt Lake City-Murray for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Collins-Loveland | In Salt Lake City-Murray | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,871 | $-129 |
| $75,000 | $74,807 | $-193 |
| $100,000 | $99,743 | $-257 |
| $150,000 | $149,614 | $-386 |
$ in Fort Collins-Loveland = in Salt Lake City-Murray
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.1 → 100.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salt Lake City-Murray more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland?
Salt Lake City-Murray is 0.3% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland. The overall cost index is 100.9 vs 101.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salt Lake City-Murray equals $100K in Fort Collins-Loveland?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Collins-Loveland has the same purchasing power as $99,743 in Salt Lake City-Murray. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Collins-Loveland and Salt Lake City-Murray?
Rents in Fort Collins-Loveland are indexed at 120.6 while Salt Lake City-Murray is at 123.3 (national average = 100). Salt Lake City-Murray has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.