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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Des Moines to Ogden

Des Moines, IA vs Ogden, UT

Simple answer

You'd likely save $231 a month in Des Moines.

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 Census rent. Census median gross rent differs by $463, with Ogden higher.

Iowa taxes wages at a flat 3.80%. Utah taxes wages at a flat 4.50%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.5 percentage points, higher in Utah. The effective property tax gap is 0.81 percentage points, higher in Iowa.

After a move from Iowa 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 Des Moines lines up with about $82,073 in Ogden on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Des Moines

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,360
HUD area
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,178
All-items price parity
91.7
Goods price parity
93.7
Utilities price parity
84.6
Mean commute
21.4 min
Median household income
$85,446

Ogden

Ogden, UT

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,591
HUD area
Ogden, UT MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,641
All-items price parity
100.3
Goods price parity
96.4
Utilities price parity
78.8
Mean commute
23.6 min
Median household income
$98,456

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

$82,073

Salary in Ogden that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$83,727

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

Rent only

$87,739

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

TaxIowaUtah
State income tax on wages3.80% flat4.50% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.9%7.4%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.29%0.49%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,168 a year in Iowa 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 Iowa and once in Utah. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • WIC

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • School meals

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    Des MoinesMaybe

    OgdenMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    Des MoinesUnlikely

    OgdenUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    Des MoinesLikely eligible

    OgdenLikely eligible

  • SSI

    Des MoinesUnlikely

    OgdenUnlikely

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 Des Moines

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Des Moines.

Nearby metros

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