Ogden vs Ann Arbor

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Ann Arbor is 0.5% more expensive than Ogden.

0.5% more expensive

Ann Arbor, MI is 0.5% more expensive than Ogden, UT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.9 vs 100.3). A $100,000 salary in Ogden buys about the same as $100,529 in Ann Arbor; the largest component gap is services.

  • Overall RPP 100.3 (Ogden) vs 100.9 (Ann Arbor)
  • $100k in Ogden ≈ $100,529 purchasing power in Ann Arbor
  • Services drives the gap (+19.4 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair UT:MI 100.3→100.9

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE UT × MI
  • 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.

Ogden
100.3
Cost Index
Ann Arbor
100.9
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Ogden, UT and Ann Arbor, MI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Services creates the largest separation: Ann Arbor is 19.4 points higher. But 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 Ogden to $100,529 in Ann Arbor, but it is not a personal spending weight.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Ogden
100.3
Ann Arbor
100.9
Goods
Ogden
96.4
Ann Arbor
93.7
Services
Ogden
78.8
Ann Arbor
98.2
Rents
Ogden
117.9
Ann Arbor
125.3

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Ogden would need to be in Ann Arbor for the same purchasing power:

In Ogden In Ann Arbor Difference
$50,000 $50,265 +$265
$75,000 $75,397 +$397
$100,000 $100,529 +$529
$150,000 $150,794 +$794
$ in Ogden = in Ann Arbor

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.3 → 100.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Ann Arbor more expensive than Ogden?

Ann Arbor is 0.5% more expensive than Ogden. The overall cost index is 100.9 vs 100.3 (national average = 100).

What salary in Ann Arbor equals $100K in Ogden?

A $100,000 salary in Ogden has the same purchasing power as $100,529 in Ann Arbor. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Ogden and Ann Arbor?

Rents in Ogden are indexed at 117.9 while Ann Arbor is at 125.3 (national average = 100). Ann Arbor has higher rents.

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.