Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety36#9,928/15,637
Economy63#5,714/15,631
Housing49#7,572/14,977
Health65#5,471/15,609
Healthcare74#4,098/15,650
Environment6#14,541/15,453
Education71#4,591/15,649
Infrastructure92#1,309/15,650
Community37#9,803/15,651
Leisure & amenities67#5,177/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Salt Lake City, Utah ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Salt Lake County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Preventable hospital stays · low1,701 /100k
93/100Utah 1,640 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSalt Lake County value
New business applications · high21.7 /1k
93/100Utah 20.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauSalt Lake County value
Mental health providers · high599 /100k
93/100Utah 418 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSalt Lake County value
Public transit commuters · high4.8%
93/100Utah 1.6%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301
Adult smoking · low8.4%
92/100Utah 10.4%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Hospital quality rating · high4.4
92/100Utah 4.2United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSalt Lake County value

Weaknesses

Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.503
5/100Utah 0.427United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Home price to income ratio · high7.2×
5/100Utah 5.1×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Social associations · low4.7 /10k
5/100Utah 3.6 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSalt Lake County value
Median Air Quality Index · high57
6/100Utah 502025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySalt Lake County value
Students per teacher · high21.0×
6/100Utah 21.6×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsSalt Lake County value
Comfortable days · low22.8%
6/100Utah 24.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSalt Lake County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
197,756 (2015-2019) → 208,007 (2020-2024)
+5.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.2× (2015-2019) → 7.2× (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.8% (2015-2019) → 91.0% (2020-2024)
+7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
20.4% (2015-2019) → 13.2% (2020-2024)
−7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
44.8% (2015-2019) → 51.1% (2020-2024)
+6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
18.5 /1k (2021) → 13.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−28%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Salt Lake City, Utah improved on 7 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 3 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved7

Child poverty−7.2 points20.4% → 13.2%
High school++3.4 points88.8% → 92.1%
Poverty−3 points16.6% → 13.6%
Uninsured−2 points13.8% → 11.8%
Bachelor's++4.9 points46.5% → 51.5%

Declined4

Price / income+2.0×5.2× → 7.2×
Rent burden+6.3 points44.8% → 51.1%
Rent / income+2.5 points27.9% → 30.4%
Transit use−2.5 points7.3% → 4.8%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Salt Lake City, Utah between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.5 min2015-2019	19.5 min2020-2024	−0.0 min	Within the margin of error	48%
Bachelor's degree or higher	46.5%2015-2019	51.5%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Improved	67%
Broadband subscriptions	83.8%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	+7.2 points	Improved	45%
Child poverty rate	20.4%2015-2019	13.2%2020-2024	−7.2 points	Improved	76%
Effective property tax rate	0.65%2015-2019	0.45%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	57%
High school diploma or higher	88.8%2015-2019	92.1%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Improved	71%
Home price to income ratio	5.2×2015-2019	7.2×2020-2024	+2.0×	Declined	4%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5012015-2019	0.5032020-2024	+0.002	Within the margin of error	48%
Median household income	$60,6762015-2019	$75,0902020-2024	+24%	Improved	41%
Poverty rate	16.6%2015-2019	13.6%2020-2024	−3 points	Improved	69%
Public transit commuters	7.3%2015-2019	4.8%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Declined	12%
Rent as share of income	27.9%2015-2019	30.4%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Declined	36%
Rent-burdened households	44.8%2015-2019	51.1%2020-2024	+6.3 points	Declined	33%
Unemployment rate	3.6%2015-2019	4.2%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.8%2015-2019	11.8%2020-2024	−2 points	Improved	69%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Salt Lake City, Utah five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Salt Lake City, Utah in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Salt Lake City, Utah itself moved −2.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

208,007 residents (±57)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69
50–59
40–49
30–39
20–29
10–19
Under 10

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under 10 women (−2.2 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

208,007 residents (±57)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

White64%133,922
Black2.3%4,713
Hispanic or Latino21%43,201

Education

141,514 residents (±1,775)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

No high school diploma7.9%11,151
High school or GED17%23,714
Some college17%24,318

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

92,652 households (±1,381)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Under $25k15%14,136
$25k–50k18%16,654
$50k–75k17%15,495
$75k–100k13%12,082
$100k–150k15%14,196
$150k–200k8.7%8,026
$200k or more13%12,063

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−5.2 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

92,652 households (±1,381)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Own46%42,474
Rent54%50,178

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−2.3 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

49,053 households (±1,484)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Under $75011%5,177
$750–1,0009.9%4,873
$1,000–1,50036%17,540

Home values

42,474 homes (±1,308)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Under $150k5.2%2,188
$150k–250k5.2%2,195
$250k–400k17%7,161

Age of homes

101,188 homes (±1,390)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

2010 or later16%15,793
2000–20096.6%6,691
1980–199912%12,482

Size of homes

101,188 homes (±1,390)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Studio6.2%6,294
1 bedroom25%25,435
2 bedrooms29%29,227

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

121,788 workers (±1,928)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Drive alone57%70,019
Carpool8.5%10,350
Public transit4.8%5,882
Walk5.1%6,171
Bike1.5%1,881
Work from home21%25,338
Other1.8%2,147

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+15.3 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

96,450 workers (±2,358)

Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah share

Under 15 min36%35,197
15–29 min44%42,280
30–44 min13%12,644

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Salt Lake County, the county holding most of Salt Lake City's residents.

Salt Lake County has 35,732 employer establishments, 296 for every 10,000 residents (1.19× the US rate of 248; 1.07× Utah's), with 693,721 paid employees at an average annual pay of $70,569. The Census Bureau also counts 116,901 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 35,732; 116,901 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 296; US 248 · Utah 277
Paid employees: 693,721
Average annual pay: $70,569; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Salt Lake County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	2,906	24.1	1.56×More than typical	32,535	$68,023	5,728
Ambulatory health care services	2,896	24	1.15×About typical	30,531	$70,706	4,079
Lessors of real estate	2,451	20.3	1.65×More than typical	9,223	$67,583	15,866
Restaurants and other eating places	2,180	18.1	0.98×About typical	43,320	$22,783	443
Management, scientific and technical consulting	1,550	12.9	1.92×More than typical	8,822	$91,971	6,258
Real estate agents and brokers	1,197	9.9	2.04×More than typical	2,221	$72,406	3,087
Limited-service restaurants	1,078	8.9	1.11×About typical	21,986	$20,538	140
Construction of buildings	1,057	8.8	1.16×About typical	9,558	$87,115	2,736
Services to buildings and dwellings	1,008	8.4	1.24×About typical	8,992	$45,431	4,987
Building finishing contractors	953	7.9	2.08×More than typical	6,644	$57,955	2,110
Offices of other health practitioners	927	7.7	1.27×More than typical	5,137	$38,366	2,240
Building equipment contractors	913	7.6	1.26×More than typical	14,679	$73,387	907

Rank places for an industry Open Salt Lake County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 1,205,509 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $635.5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Salt Lake City, Utah: $3,055 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $635.5M; +4.2% vs FY2025
Per resident: $3,055; US $1,995
Sole-source: 26%; US 30%
Single offer: 37%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$236.4M37%
Department of the Navy$137M22%
Department of the Air Force$76.5M12%
Department of the Army$27.5M4.3%
Federal Aviation Administration$26.1M4.1%
Federal Acquisition Service$23.4M3.7%
U.S. Special Operations Command$22.3M3.5%
Office of Procurement Operations$19.9M3.1%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

419.9MFY2017
431.1MFY2018
466MFY2019
435MFY2020
468.1MFY2021
537.2MFY2022
601.3MFY2023
644.9M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$209.6M33%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$107.4M17%
Communications equipment manufacturing · 3342$89.8M14%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$58.5M9.2%
Software publishers · 5132$24.9M3.9%
Warehousing and storage · 4931

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Salt Lake City, Utah

NGJ LB CB1 DEVELOPMENT$265.1M
L3 TECHNOLOGIES, INC.· Salt Lake County, UT· Research & development· Aug 26, 2024 – May 11, 2026· N0001924C0061
TASK ORDER OF PCAC IDIQ FOR THE VISN 19 ESPC AT SALT LAKE CITY AND GRAND JUNCTION VAMCS.$201.6M
HSGS-AMERESCO, LLC· Salt Lake County, UT· Construction & real property· Jul 24, 2025 – Aug 25, 2026· 36C77625N0495
CMC CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR THE FRANK E. MOSS SEISMIC UPGRADE, BACKFILL, AND RENOVATION PROJECT LOCATED IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.$134.6M
BIG-D CONSTRUCTION CORP· Salt Lake County, UT· Construction & real property· Jul 14, 2021 – Aug 28, 2026· 47PJ0021C0045

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Salt Lake City, Utah, so they do not add up across cities.

Salt Lake City, Utah's figures are part of those of Salt Lake County, UT ($1.6B in FY2026), never added to them: 41% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Salt Lake City is mostly in Salt Lake County.

See federal money in Salt Lake County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Salt Lake City, Utah is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Salt Lake County70100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT71

Other cities and towns in Salt Lake County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4967000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends