What is the most affordable and best gay city in Utah?
Find out which city in Utah is the most LGBTQ-friendliness here. Then, start reaching financial sustainability and independence by eliminating credit card debt with the free 7-Step Credit Card Debt Slasher.
Watch more on the best gay city to live in Utah
What is the best gay city to live in Utah?
Affordability versus LGBTQ-friendliness, the next city in our series is the best gay city to live in Utah. Find out which gets the top spot.
For a quick recap, basing our decision on 6 variables:
- HRC Municipal Equality Index
- Zillow’s ZORI
- Zillow’s ZHVI
- HH income median
- HH income mean
- BestPlaces.net Cost of Living
This being the Queer Money® podcast, personal finance for LGBTQ+ people, this series couples LGBTQ+ inclusion with affordability. If other variables are important to you, such as veteran services. Black and people of color inclusion, women’s issues, disability needs, and other metrics, take the winner and runner up for each week and research those other variables that are important to you.
Who’s the honorable mention for Utah? Salt Lake City.
From our experience in downtown SLC, it’s one of the queerest places in the US. There are LGBTQ+, Pride, trans, and nonbinary flags everywhere. Stickers with “All Are Welcome” seem to be on every store, restaurant, or bar front.
Why is Salt Lake City the second most affordable and LGBTQ+ inclusive city?
Salt Lake City is the only city with a 100 on HRC’s Municipal Equality Index. It’s not the most expensive city for rent. Provo & St George are, but there’s only an $11 difference. Salt Lake City is the most expensive in Utah for home values and cost of living, which will slowly eat away at your buying and investing power. Median household incomes are second place, and average household income comes in at number three.
Which Utah city is the winner for most LGBTQ+ inclusive and affordable? Ogden Utah!
Ogden is just a 35 minutes drive from Salt Lake City so you can enjoy the best of both acceptance and affordability.
Why is Ogden, Utah the most LGBTQ+ inclusive and most affordable city in Utah for queer people?
It has the highest average household income at $74,000 annually and a median household income of $55,000. Plus, its cost of living is on par with the national average. Home values in Ogden fall in the middle for Utah at about $467,000. Finally, rent prices are in the middle at $1,722
To be fair, Ogden earns a 58 out of 100 on HRC Municipal Equality Index. This isn’t great, but it is a challenge when trying to balance acceptance and affordability.
Ogden’s score is so low because the city doesn’t have trans-inclusive benefits nor a contractor non-discrimination ordinance. Ogden has had openly LGBTQ+ elected officials, which is a good sign. Some great things about Ogden, Utah, include that it’s the home of Weber University and is nestled close to Wasatch Mountain Range, which helps with its abundance of outdoor activities. Its historic downtown offers a great food scene, too. The Ogden Pride organization regularly hosts “Coffee and Queers” and youth outreach nights. Ogden’s 2023 Pride will be from August 4th through 6th.
So, congratulations Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah!
Thank you for listening to another episode. On next Thursday’s Queer Money bonus episode, we’re covering the most affordable and most gay friendly city in the state of Texas.
If you’d like to see the results of all the cities in each state we’re analyzing, go to queermoneypodcast.com/cities or click the link in your podcast player for a growing analysis.
Previous Bonus Podcast Episodes
- The Best Gay City to Live in Virginia
- The Best Gay City to Live in Washington
- The Best Gay City to Live in West Virginia
Click below to listen to this bonus episode