Affordable places to live in Utah?? Help! (Salt Lake City, West Valley City: rent, houses)

[debbie60]

Hello!

Praying we can afford to retire to gorgeous Utah!! I've been looking on various sites for lists of affordable cities in UT. I have been unsuccessful finding an area we can afford and in each comment section of these lists residents of the areas say the list is incorrect and in fact list some of the most expensive places

Can anyone help us please by suggesting actual affordable places to live?

Thank you kindly in advance!!
Debbie

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

What is affordable to you? What price house or rent for what size? Taxes, food, utilities? That's a really broad question.

[f5fstop]

And weather, location (mountains with large trees or desert areas). UT ha a lot of variable places to live.

[BladeChick]

I agree it is a broad question for sure! while sometimes not the cheapest place DEFINATELY not an expensive place either. just depends on what you look for on specifics.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by debbie60

I've been looking on various sites for lists of affordable cities in UT. I have been unsuccessful finding an area we can afford and in each comment section of these lists residents of the areas say the list is incorrect and in fact list some of the most expensive places.

Well, I can see how that would be true. I live in Cottonwood Heights. Some of the homes here are absolute mansions. I mean, I couldn't even dream of living in them. Other homes here are almost look like they belong in a trailer park. The same holds true with respect to Holladay, Sandy and Draper. So if you are looking at a list of affordable cities in Utah, all of these may be included. That definitely doesn't mean you could afford any home in those areas. You're going to have to give us a little more of an idea of what you consider "affordable" than you have. We'd love to help you zero in on somewhere that might work for you, but what would be affordable to one person wouldn't be to another.

[lovecrowds]

I agree Utah is a very beautiful state. There are many, many affordable places in Utah.

Salt Lake City is very expensive by Utah standards.

Alot of the eastern suburbs like Holladay, Cottonwood Heights and Millcreek are very expensive per square feet because they have the views and are in an area of the Valley that has more demand.

There are many, many affordable areas in Utah.

I would say in general you pay half of the price per square foot of Colorado in Utah for similar mountain scenery and amenities.

In Salt Lake County the older, southern suburbs tend to be the most affordable such as West Jordan, South Jordan and Magna.

Murray isn't cheap but is close to Salt Lake City but has a lower price tag for similar houses.

Utah County offers far more per-square foot then Salt Lake County does.

Northern Davis County areas that are older such as Layton, Bountiful, Centerville will offer more for the money.

Also, if you don't mind more rural Tooele County offers large homes for a much lower price per square foot.

Other small cities that are small but affordable with nice mountain scenery: Logan, Cedar City, Tremonton and Richfield.

[JimBaker488]

Is the area west of downtown SLC and I-15 known as West Valley City less or more expensive than the suburbs south of Provo like Spanish Fork and Payson ?

[lovecrowds]

I just did a general search and it looks like both Spanish Fork in Utah County and West Valley City next to Salt Lake City are in the $110-$120 per square foot range.

Magna would likely be the lowest cost per square foot in Salt Lake County.

Which means a 2,000 square foot home would be $220,000-$240,000

Santaquin which is just south of Spanish Fork is more like $90 per square foot.

The cheapest home prices per square foot in Utah or Salt Lake counties would be in: Magna, West Valley City, Santaquin, Eagle Mountain.

[ahawes]

Generally not as 'nice' as the greater SLC area but Ogden is an affordable alternative a little ways away too.

[SportyandMisty]

I often wonder about threads started asking for information in a way that is more of a editorial comment than an inquiry for assistance where the OP never returns to provide clarification or thanks.