I now live in Utah and my friend lives in New Zealand. Why is the barometric pressure so different? 26 vs 31?

Question

correct that to: Salt Lake City to 30.10 and New Zealand to 27.00

Answer 1

because the instrument indicating 31 is certainly wrong

and because u may be living at different altitudes

Answer 2

I don't know where you're getting 31 from.  The extremes at sea level vary between 28.50" and 30.50".

In Utah, you are most likely quite a bit above sea level.  If you think of pressure as measuring a column of air straight up, then that column of air will be shorter for you in Utah compared to relatively close to sea level in NZ, so the weight of air is less for you, and the pressure is therefore less.  You can subtract 0.1" for every 100 feet of elevation as an estimate.  So, using 29.92" as a mean at sea level, I would guess you are somewhere around 3,900 ft. elevation with 26".  Salt Lake City is 4,226 ft., so I guess I'm in the ballpark.