job opportunities, weather/climate, housing costs.

I have a co-worker who originally planned to buy a home in the Salt Lake Valley and when on a business trip in Phoenix he claims he found much nicer options, with a pool, outdoor kitchen, fully landscaped for 200k less than what he was prepared to spend in the Salt lake valley.

In general, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are all going to be more affordable than Utah. The only intermountain state with higher housing costs would be Colorado but even then, the median income is higher there so we are back to Utah being the most unaffordable state in the intermountain west.