Cost of Living
per year
per month
How West Valley City's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in West Valley City?
Your $100,000 in West Valley City has the same purchasing power as $93,379 in the average US city. You'd need $6,621 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of West Valley City's cost index of 107, sorted by closest match.
These are the reasons people actually move to West Valley City, ordered roughly by what shows up loudest in the data. A higher-income labor market than the national norm and low unemployment, plenty of openings lead, plus 2 more things worth knowing — the rest unpacked below.
The typical household in West Valley City pulls in $81,719 — comfortably above the US median. Combined with the cost of living here, the income-to-expense ratio works out better than a quick look at either number in isolation would suggest.
At about 4.0% unemployment, West Valley City's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
Average AQI in West Valley City comes in around 44, well into the "good" band. Clean air isn't a thing you appreciate until you've lived somewhere it wasn't — and this is the side of that line you want to be on.
Average commute time in West Valley City runs around 22 minutes one-way — short enough that it doesn't restructure your day. Compared to the 45-plus-minute commutes that are normal in major metros, the difference adds up to a real lifestyle gap.
Reasons are pulled from West Valley City's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 26°F, West Valley City sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
A real winter, but not a punishing one. West Valley City averages roughly 26°F in winter, with the coldest mornings dipping into the single digits a few times a year and most days landing somewhere between "chilly" and "actually cold".
Reliably warm. West Valley City's summer averages around 90°F, the kind of heat where you remember to leave the house before noon for outdoor things and accept that the back of your shirt will be wet by lunchtime.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. West Valley City's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Roughly 4,344 feet (1,324 m) above sea level. At that altitude, the first few days for a coastal visitor can feel mildly off — shorter breath on stairs, faster fatigue — but it normalizes quickly.
Middle of the pack. West Valley City comes in around 3,320 per 100,000, basically the national average. The interesting question is usually which neighborhood, not which city — that's where the real variation lives.
It's a middle-of-the-road US city on cost. West Valley City's index of 107 sits within a few points of the national average — your money buys roughly what it would in a typical American metro.
West Valley City scores 36 out of 100 on Walk Score, which translates to "car-dependent but not aggressively so". Transit Score is 33 out of 100. Some neighborhoods buck the citywide average; the dense inner cores are usually noticeably more walkable than the city number suggests.
As a rule of thumb, plan on about $74,963 to live in West Valley City the way a $70,000 earner lives in a typical US city. The math gets less forgiving the lower you go below that. Median rent in West Valley City runs about $1,360/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.