Metro Life Score
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
Above-median composite Life Score — grade B, 59th percentile of the national corpus.
- 51.8
- Life Score / 100
- B
- Grade (curved)
- #159
- of 387 metros
- 59%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Salt Lake City-Murray is above-median composite Life Score — #159 of 387 (51.8/100, grade B, 59th percentile). Carried by schools at 93/100; held back most by rent at 18/100.
- 59th
- composite percentile
- #159
- of 387 peers
- 19th
- cost dimension percentile
- 75th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · signature cost
Salt Lake City-Murray: cost pressure is the outlier
Salt Lake City-Murray is a MID-band metro where cost sits only at the 19th percentile (DEAR) — the clearest outlier vs wages at the 75th and composite #159. Rent (18/100) is the main drag; Schools (93/100) keeps the floor. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Salt Lake City-Murray, UT ranks #159 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #315 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 100.9 (rent-RPP 123.3). BLS median salary $70,035, 790,120 jobs (Customer Service Representatives, General and Operations Managers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,747/mo (studio $1,259).
FBI UCR (UT): 229 violent, 1435 property/100K. NCES: 20.3:1 ratio, 13.1% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,828/yr. EPA: 24 Superfund sites (UT).
Where Salt Lake City-Murray sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
52 59th percentile higher than 59% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 51.8 is built
Salt Lake City-Murray's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Salt Lake City-Murray scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are UT state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Salt Lake City-Murray With...
Ranking Context
Salt Lake City-Murray outranks 59% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #156 | Pittsburgh, PA | 51.9 | B |
| #157 | Pueblo, CO | 52.0 | B |
| #158 | Akron, OH | 52.0 | B |
| #159 | Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | 51.8 | B |
| #160 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | 51.7 | B |
| #161 | Flint, MI | 51.7 | B |
| #162 | Yakima, WA | 51.7 | B |
Quality vs. Affordability
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT is top 41% highest-quality nationally but only bottom 19% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
UT Metro Scores
Read with Salt Lake City-Murray
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Salt Lake City-Murray (MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Burlington-South Burlington, VT
ABS(composite) peer at 51.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/HIGH.
Flint, MI
ABS(composite) peer at 51.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/HIGH.
Yakima, WA
ABS(composite) peer at 51.7 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/HIGH.
Pittsburgh, PA
ABS(composite) peer at 51.9 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B vs this page's MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/HIGH.
Ann Arbor, MI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 18/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Lexington Park, MD (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 19/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · SCHOOL-STRONG · DEAR/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Salt Lake City-Murray's middle-third Life Score
Salt Lake City-Murray scores 51.8/100 overall, but Schools (93.3) and Rent (17.9) sit 75.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Schools is the strongest of Salt Lake City-Murray's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Rent is the weakest (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Logan is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Logan
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.