Metro comparison

Ogden vs Wildwood

Ogden, UT and Wildwood-The Villages, FL side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.

48.7
Ogden Life Score
B-
Ogden grade
71.6
Wildwood Life Score
A+
Wildwood grade

Head-to-head verdict

Across the seven dimensions, Ogden scores higher on 2 (wages, schools) and Wildwood on 5 (cost of living, rent, safety, childcare, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.

Ogden vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)

Ogden vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall) 7-axis radar comparing 2 series across Cost, Wages, Rent, Safety, Schools, Childcare, Environ.. CostWagesRentSafetySchoolsChildcareEnviron. OgdenWildwood
Ogden vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)

Source: BEA, HUD, BLS, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA As of December 2024

Dimension scorecard

Where each metro wins, and by how much

Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.

◖ Ogden Wildwood ◗
cost of living
20
98
wages
49
47
rent
25
48
safety
76
83
schools
99
88
childcare
29
46
environment
66
97

Ogden and Wildwood differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Ogden has a cost-of-living index of 100.3 vs Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $65,644 in Ogden and $63,776 in Wildwood. A 2-bedroom averages $1,614/mo vs $1,328/mo.

How to read this matchup

Reading the Ogden vs Wildwood Comparison

Ogden (UT) and Wildwood (FL) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 100.3 for Ogden against 85.4 for Wildwood, a 14.9-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,614/mo in Ogden and $1,328/mo in Wildwood, a $286/mo difference that compounds to $3,432 over a year.

On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $65,644 across 262,140 jobs in Ogden against $63,776 across 34,870 jobs in Wildwood. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Ogden carries the same local purchasing power as $85,127 in Wildwood - the most honest way to read the salary headline, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 229.2 per 100,000 residents in UT vs 210.3 in FL, with property-crime rates of 1435.1 and 1030.0 respectively.

Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: UT lists 1,068 public schools at a 21.4:1 student-teacher ratio, while FL lists 4,029 schools at 17.8:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $11,828/yr in the Ogden area versus $10,505/yr in Wildwood - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Ogden and Wildwood are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.

Ogden composite

48.7 /100

Grade B- · weighted across 7 dims

Wildwood composite

71.6 /100

Grade A+ · weighted across 7 dims

Cost-of-living gap

14.9 pts

Ogden vs Wildwood BEA RPP

2-bed rent delta

$286 /mo

Ogden priced higher

Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale

Ogden

Ogden composite (Grade B-)

Wildwood

Wildwood composite (Grade A+)

Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.

💰 Cost of Living BEA →

Category Ogden Wildwood
Overall RPP 100.3 85.4
Goods 96.4 96.2
Services 78.8 89.0
Rents 117.9 51.7

Salary Equivalent Calculator

What salary in Wildwood gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Ogden?

$
Equivalent in Wildwood: $85,127

Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Ogden: 100.3, Wildwood: 85.4, national avg = 100).

🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →

Bedrooms Ogden Wildwood
Studio $1,208/mo $1,076/mo
1 Bedroom $1,281/mo $1,139/mo
2 Bedroom $1,614/mo $1,328/mo
3 Bedroom $2,163/mo $1,655/mo
4 Bedroom $2,612/mo $1,937/mo

💼 Wages & Employment BLS →

Metric Ogden Wildwood
Avg Median Salary $65,644 $63,776
Total Employment 262,140 34,870

🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →

Crime Type (per 100K) Ogden (UT) Wildwood (FL)
Violent Crime 229.2 210.3
Property Crime 1435.1 1030.0

🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →

Metric UT FL
Total Schools 1,068 4,029
Student-Teacher Ratio 21.4:1 17.8:1
Charter Schools 13.1% 17.9%

👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →

Age Group UT FL
Infant (Center) $11,828/yr $10,505/yr
Toddler (Center) $9,645/yr $8,611/yr
Preschool (Center) $8,778/yr $7,983/yr

🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →

Metric UT FL
EPA Facilities 246 864
Water Systems 559 1,516
Superfund Sites 24 81
Water Violations 1,200 2,676
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.

💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →

Metric Ogden Wildwood
Median AQI 50.0 41.0
Good Air Days 52.2% 76.6%
Unhealthy Air Days 19 days N/A

Wildwood air quality shown at state level. Ogden has metro-level data.

💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →

Metric UT FL
Water Safety Score 3/100 9/100
Total Violations 169,784 184,355
Health-Based Violations 10,671 24,266
Systems with Violations 97.6% 93.2%

🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →

Metric UT FL
Healthcare Access Score 0/100 0/100
Population in Shortage Area 100.0% 100.0%
HPSA Designations 176 612

HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.

⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →

Metric UT FL
Disaster Safety Score 81/100 29/100
NRI Risk Score (avg county) 36.2 75.7
Expected Annual Loss Score 42.0 72.9

FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Ogden more expensive than Wildwood?
Ogden has a cost of living index of 100.3 compared to Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Ogden is 14.9 points above Wildwood on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Ogden and Wildwood?
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,614/mo in Ogden vs $1,328/mo in Wildwood, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,208/mo to $1,076/mo.
How do salaries compare between Ogden and Wildwood?
The average median salary across all occupations is $65,644 in Ogden and $63,776 in Wildwood, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Ogden has the same purchasing power as $85,127 in Wildwood.
Is Ogden or Wildwood safer?
At the state level, UT has a violent crime rate of 229.2 per 100,000 residents compared to FL's 210.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1435.1 vs 1030.0 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Ogden and Wildwood?
UT has 1,068 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 21.4:1, while FL has 4,029 schools at 17.8:1. Charter schools make up 13.1% of UT schools vs 17.9% in FL. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from?
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial