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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Boise City to Salt Lake City

Boise City, ID vs Salt Lake City, UT

Simple answer

You'd likely save $75 a month in Boise City.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 17.7 points (Boise City 105.6, Salt Lake City 123.3).

Idaho taxes wages at a flat 5.30%. Utah taxes wages at a flat 4.50%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.4 percentage points, higher in Utah. The effective property tax gap is 0.06 percentage points, higher in Utah.

After a move from Idaho to Utah, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Boise City lines up with about $76,888 in Salt Lake City on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Boise City

Boise City, ID

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,540
HUD area
Boise City, ID HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,628
All-items price parity
98.4
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
70.7
Mean commute
23.8 min
Median household income
$88,695

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,615
HUD area
Salt Lake City, UT HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,659
All-items price parity
100.9
Goods price parity
96.4
Utilities price parity
79.0
Mean commute
23.5 min
Median household income
$100,548

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$76,888

Salary in Salt Lake City that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$76,550

Gross salary in Salt Lake City whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$78,653

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxIdahoUtah
State income tax on wages5.30% flat4.50% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.0%7.4%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.43%0.49%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,713 a year in Idaho and $1,943 in Utah. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Utah

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Idaho and once in Utah. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • WIC

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • School meals

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    Boise CityMaybe

    Salt Lake CityMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    Boise CityUnlikely

    Salt Lake CityUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    Boise CityLikely eligible

    Salt Lake CityLikely eligible

  • SSI

    Boise CityUnlikely

    Salt Lake CityUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Utah · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Boise City

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Boise City.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.