The 10 Best Places To Live In Utah

With 45 state parks and many dining, cultural and recreational options, Utah is a wonderful place. Whether you already live there or are considering moving there, the Beehive State can offer you some excellent places to settle. Curious about the best places to live in Utah? We’ve got you covered.

Is Utah A Good Place To Live? 

If you’re deciding where to live, Utah might be a great fit for you. The overall cost of living in this state is at the national average – right around $37,369 as of December 2021. Energy costs are 22% lower than the national average.

The public schools are excellent – WalletHub’s recent study found that Utah’s public education is among the best in the country, ranking number 13 out of 50 states. Utah boasts big cities, small towns and everything in between. There’s plenty of nature to explore, plus arts and cultural opportunities to enjoy.

10 Best Cities To Live In Utah

To find the best places to live, we ranked the cities in Utah by data found these areas:

• Crime rates
• Unemployment rates
• Google search volume
• Median rent
• Well-being index
• Median monthly income
• Housing costs
• Median days on market for homes
• Median home list price
• Freddie Mac primary mortgage market survey interest rates 

Please see the Methodology section at the end of this article for more details on how we calculated our rankings.

Let’s take a look at the 10 best places to live in Utah, and at three bonus cities that are popular places to set down roots.

1. West Point

• Population: 11,430
• Median household income: $99,226
• Median home sold price: $549,990
• Median monthly rental price: $1,505

West Point ranks in the top 3 for cities in Utah with very high wellbeing of its residents, plus a low crime rate and a low unemployment rate. West Point borders the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake and contains an extensive wetland area, making it a superb place to observe birds. Though it’s only 7 square miles, West Point has an attractive golf course and three parks for its residents and visitors to enjoy.

Learn more about West Point from the West Point Housing Market Report and West Point home listings.

2. Syracuse

• Population: 33,331
• Median household income: $103,522
• Median home sold price: $579,993
• Median monthly rental price: $1,766

Just to the south of West Point sits Syracuse, a 9.5-square-mile city with lots to do. Syracuse is home to the Syracuse Regional Museum, and it holds Heritage Days and an October Pumpkin Walk. Syracuse is family-friendly with 15 parks, including the Jensen Nature Center. For nature lovers, Syracuse is also the gateway to Antelope Island State Park, with camping, fishing and hiking, plus spectacular mountain views!

Check out more Syracuse data in the Syracuse Market Report and Syracuse home listings.

3. Spanish Fork

• Population: 43,870
• Median household income: $79,846
• Median home sold price: $465,000
• Median monthly rental price: $1,144

Located outside of Provo, Spanish Fork is Utah’s 20^th largest city. It boasts a wealth of cultural events, hosting six major festivals each year: Icelandic Days, Wings and Wheels, the Harvest Moon Hurrah, Fiesta Days, the Festival of Lights and the Festival of Colors. There are more than 16 parks in Spanish Fork, including an all-abilities adventure park.

Learn more from the Spanish Fork Housing Market Report and Spanish Fork home listings.

4. South Ogden

• Population: 17,541
• Median household income: $70,552
• Median home sold price: $399,900
• Median monthly rental price: $1,042 

South Ogden ranks #1 on our list for its housing cost-to-income ratio. It’s an attractive place for families, with nine parks, including a splash pad for hot summer days. It offers sports for all ages, including pickleball, and it borders an excellent ski area. South Ogden is in close proximity to the Hill Aerospace Museum on the Hill Air Force Base and to the Treehouse Museum for children.

Take a look at the South Ogden Housing Market Report and South Ogden home listings  to learn more!

5. Highland

• Population: 19,611
• Median household income: $146,177
• Median home sold price: $939,900
• Median monthly rental price: $2,039

Highland has the lowest rates of property crime and violent crime of all Utah cities in our study. It’s located between Salt Lake City and Provo, and it offers many parks and outdoor spaces. If museums are your thing, then this might be the place for you! It’s near the Museum of Ancient Life, the Museum of Natural Curiosity, the Hutchings Museum and the Pleasant Grove History Museum. Highland also offers access to the Timpanogos Cave National Monument.

Find more Highland housing facts on the Highland Housing Market Report and Highland home listings.

6. Riverton

• Population: 45,148
• Median household income: $101,810
• Median home sold price: $604,087
• Median monthly rental price: $1,447

Riverton is one of the most searched Utah cities on Google, so the secret is out that it’s a wonderful place to live! Riverton is located in the Salt Lake Valley, giving residents easy access to both Salt Lake City and Provo. Riverton offers many family-friendly events, including the Town Days rodeo and festivities. There’s a community pool, 33 city parks, over 470 acres of green space and access to several ski mountains for adventurous types!

The Riverton Housing Market Report and Riverton home listings offers more housing information for this bustling city.

7. Bluffdale

• Population: 18,835
• Median household income: $113,023
• Median home sold price: $599,900
• Median monthly rental price: $1,394

Bluffdale is just south of Riverton but stands on its own as the #1 city on our list for wellbeing! Bluffdale is host to Old West Days in the summertime. There are 13 parks to enjoy, several with splash pads, and a network of gorgeous walking trails.

Get more market info from the Bluffdale Housing Market Report and Bluffdale home listings.

8. Hooper

• Population: 9,367
• Median household income: $100,347
• Median home sold price: $614,900
• Median monthly rental price: $1,188

Hooper’s claim to Utah fame is that it has the lowest unemployment rate amongst the Utah cities in our study at just 0.7%! Hooper also boasts the Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area, a nature preserve on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. Hooper also has the Howard Slough Main Dike, a wildlife preserve and hunting area.

Learn more about Hooper’s housing market in the Hooper Housing Market Report and Hooper home listings.

9. Vernal

• Population: 10,241
• Median household income: $47,962.00
• Median home sold price: $229,900.00
• Median monthly rental price: $706.00

Vernal is located just 20 miles west of the Colorado border, and 175 miles from Salt Lake City. It ranks #1 in home affordability on our list! Vernal is well known for being a destination for dinosaur lovers, being a major site of ancient dino fossils! Vernal offers access to Dinosaur National Monument and all the tours and features nearby, plus the Uintah County Regional Museum and the Utah Field House of Natural History. There are also 11 parks and a community center with pools and a rock-climbing wall.

Learn more about what housing Vernal has to offer with the Vernal Housing Market Report and Vernal home listings.

10. Hyrum

• Population: 10,036
• Median household income: $66,902
• Median home sold price: $429,900
• Median monthly rental price: $775

Hyrum may only be 4.8 square miles, but it’s got a lot to offer! It’s home to Hyrum State Park, the beautiful Hyrum Reservoir and the Hardware Wildlife Management Area, where Rocky Mountain elk spend the winters. Hyrum offers six parks totaling more than 173 acres. The Hyrum City Museum offers exhibits on the history of Hyrum, including the Native American history.

Check out the Hyrum Housing Market Report and Hyrum home listings to learn more.

3 Other Popular Areas To Live In Utah

Whether you thrive in the outdoors with sporting and hiking opportunities or prefer to stay indoors and admire the view from there, Utah has a place for you. And while our rankings can provide some great insights in regard to living costs and crime rates, you may just want to live somewhere popular. These three bonus places to consider aren’t based on our rankings but are popular for a reason – they offer the amenities and features that many people are looking for.

1. Provo

• Population: 114,084
• Median household income: $50,072
• Median home sold price: $452,885
• Median monthly rental price: $901 

Provo is ranked as one of the least stressed cities in the country, making it a very desirable place for Utahns. It’s Utah’s fourth-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area, leading to a wealth of different activities and amenities to enjoy. Provo is home to more than 100 restaurants and a variety of museums devoted to science, history, culture and even gas and oil! For those who love the outdoors, Provo offers 27 parks and plenty of hiking and fishing opportunities, and is in close proximity to beautiful mountains for sightseeing and skiing. It’s also home to NCAA college football and basketball, and the ice arena was used in the 2002 Olympics. A wide variety of cultural events, such as the Festival Latinoamericano, take place year-round.

Check out our Provo Housing Market Report and Provo home listings to learn more about this bustling, beautiful city’s housing trends!

2. Salt Lake City

• Population: 200,478
• Median household income: $63,156
• Median home sold price: $588,039
• Median monthly rental price: $1,096

Salt Lake City is not only Utah’s largest city, it’s also one of the most sustainable cities in the U.S. Salt Lake City is popular with tourists for skiing and other outdoor activities, making it easy for you to be a tourist in your own city. There’s a network of 85 municipal parks, plus nature preserves, botanical gardens and a state park. There are museums aplenty, and many sports offerings. It’s home to the NBA team Utah Jazz and was the host city of the 2002 Olympics.

The public transportation system, light rail and bike paths make it an easy city to navigate, especially if you don’t want to own a car. It’s also home to an international airport.

For cultural events, Salt Lake City is unparalleled. There’s an array of events year-round celebrating many diverse cultures and people, and there’s a vibrant art scene and dining scene, too.

Learn more housing facts about this thriving city with our Salt Lake City Housing Market Report and Salt Lake City home listings.

3. Park City

• Population: 8,457
• Median household income: $114,798
• Median home sold price: $1,530,000
• Median monthly rental price: $1,592

Park City has been named a promising city of 2022 due to its growth as a new tech epicenter. Beyond the booming job industry, it’s home to the country’s largest ski area! If you love outdoor sports, Park City might be the right place for you to put down roots. It’s home to unparalleled skiing, snowboarding, dogsledding and fly fishing, and to hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held here, and you can visit the Utah Olympic Park, where you can take a 3,000-foot bobsled ride.

Park City is also host to the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the U.S and to a music festival and an arts festival. There are more than 150 restaurants of varying cuisines, and a historic downtown shopping district.

Park City offers its own free intra-city public transportation system. Though the population of permanent residents is relatively small, the influx of tourism ensures it’s a bustling city with plenty to see and do.

The Park City Housing Market Report and Park City home listings can give you more info on housing in this showy, snowy place to live!

The Bottom Line

Utah offers a variety of places to live a low-stress, safe lifestyle. Its outdoor recreation, excellent schools, family-friendly activities and varied cultural scenes help ensure that every lifestyle can thrive.  Ready to make the move? Start the online approval process today with Rocket Mortgage^®!

Methodology: Finding The Best Places To Live In In Utah

Rocket Home collected and analyzed the most recent data on twelve key local and countywide metrics to give us insight into the best cities to live in Utah. The 70 most populated cities analyzed are home to 88.44% of U.S. residents living in The Beehive State. To ensure readers can learn more about the cities and view homes for sale in the area, cities with Rocket Homes listings and market reports were chosen for this study. The metrics used in this study include the violent crime rate, property crime rate, unemployment rate, google search volume, median rent, well-being index, median monthly income, median monthly housing costs, median days on market for homes, median home list price, and Freddie Mac primary mortgage market survey interest rates. Some of these metrics were then used to calculate housing cost to income ratio and home affordability index. These metrics were chosen based on public data availability and topical relevancy. Metrics from the U.S. Census are based on 2020 ACS 5-year estimates. In one case, county-level data was used because data is not recorded at the local level.

The housing cost to income ratio was calculated by taking the median monthly housing costs divided by the median monthly income to get the average percentage of income spent on housing costs in a household. The home affordability index was calculated using median listing price for homes in that city, interest rate from Freddie Mac primary mortgage market survey, and median yearly income. To interpret the indices, a value equal to or greater than 1 means that the average person has enough income to qualify for a mortgage in that area. The calculation assumes a down-payment of 20% of the home price and a qualifying ratio of 25%.

Each metric had data collected on it for the metropolitan statistical area and that area was ranked for each metric from best (1) to worst. Once all the metro areas were ranked from best to worst for each metric, weights were then applied to each metric depending on their individual importance when it comes to choosing the best cities to live in Utah. Cities with violent crime rates greater than or equal to 55 and property crime rates greater than or equal to 65 were removed from the ranking. The final scores are sorted to produce the final rankings. If multiple cities ranked within the same county, only the top one or two cities were chosen to be represented in order to showcase the diversity of the state and offer readers a wider representation of the state.

Other metrics considered without weight: