Overall
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- 100.9
- Colorado Springs
- 100.7
Diff -0.2 RPP
Salt Lake City-Murray vs Colorado Springs
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Colorado Springs is 0.2% less expensive than Salt Lake City-Murray.
0.2% less expensive
Colorado Springs, CO is 0.2% less expensive than Salt Lake City-Murray, UT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.7 vs 100.9). A $100,000 salary in Salt Lake City-Murray buys about the same as $99,840 in Colorado Springs; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.9 (Salt Lake City-Murray) vs 100.7 (Colorado Springs)
- $100k in Salt Lake City-Murray ≈ $99,840 purchasing power in Colorado Springs
- Rents drives the gap (-7.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair UT:CO 100.9→100.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE UT × CO
- 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.
Salt Lake City-Murray
100.9
Cost Index
Colorado Springs
100.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT and Colorado Springs, CO are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Colorado Springs is 7.1 points lower. But services 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Salt Lake City-Murray corresponds to $99,840 in Colorado Springs.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Colorado Springs
- 96.1
Diff -0.4 RPP
Services
- Colorado Springs
- 83.2
Diff +4.2 RPP
Rents
- Salt Lake City-Murray
- 123.3
- Colorado Springs
- 116.2
Diff -7.1 RPP
| Category | Salt Lake City-Murray | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.9 | 100.7 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.1 | -0.4 |
| Services | 79.0 | 83.2 | +4.2 |
| Rents | 123.3 | 116.2 | -7.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salt Lake City-Murray 100.9
Colorado Springs 100.7
Goods
Salt Lake City-Murray 96.4
Colorado Springs 96.1
Services
Salt Lake City-Murray 79.0
Colorado Springs 83.2
Rents
Salt Lake City-Murray 123.3
Colorado Springs 116.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Salt Lake City-Murray would need to be in Colorado Springs for the same purchasing power:
| In Salt Lake City-Murray | In Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,920 | $-80 |
| $75,000 | $74,880 | $-120 |
| $100,000 | $99,840 | $-160 |
| $150,000 | $149,761 | $-239 |
$ in Salt Lake City-Murray = in Colorado Springs
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.9 → 100.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Colorado Springs more expensive than Salt Lake City-Murray?
Colorado Springs is 0.2% less expensive than Salt Lake City-Murray. The overall cost index is 100.7 vs 100.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Colorado Springs equals $100K in Salt Lake City-Murray?
A $100,000 salary in Salt Lake City-Murray has the same purchasing power as $99,840 in Colorado Springs. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salt Lake City-Murray and Colorado Springs?
Rents in Salt Lake City-Murray are indexed at 123.3 while Colorado Springs is at 116.2 (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.