VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake CityThe Assembly Hall on Temple Square

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Salt Lake City by hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Salt Lake City?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’s own page.

Choose Salt Lake City for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Salt Lake City’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Philadelphia 36, Salt Lake City 12: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Salt Lake City 40: Philadelphia leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Salt Lake City 42: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Salt Lake City 30: Philadelphia leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Salt Lake City 90: Salt Lake City leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Salt Lake City 34: Philadelphia leads by 46 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Salt Lake City 72: Salt Lake City leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Salt Lake City 42: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Salt Lake City 36: Philadelphia leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia and Salt Lake City are level on 40.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Salt Lake City 55: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Salt Lake City 38: Salt Lake City leads by 12 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Salt Lake City.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.

Salt Lake City
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Salt Lake City in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSalt Lake City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Salt Lake City: 1991-2020 normals, Salt Lake City International Airport (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSalt Lake City
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-7, UTC-6 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m1,288 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsSalt Lake City International Airport (SLC)9 km from centre108 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSalt Lake City
City population1,603,797199,723
People per km²4,339690
Museums within 10 km5412
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Salt Lake City somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.