The 10 Poorest Cities In Utah For 2024


The poorest places in Utah are Moab and Logan for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Like all states, Utah has certain places that are going on hard times. These Utah places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Utah.

To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 89 cities in Utah with more than 5,000 people.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Poorest Places In Utah For 2024:

  1. Moab
  2. Logan
  3. Provo
  4. Price
  5. Cedar City
  6. Vernal
  7. South Salt Lake
  8. Roosevelt
  9. Ephraim
  10. Ogden

Poorest Places In Utah Map

What’s the poorest city in Utah? According to the facts, Moab is the poorest place in Utah for 2024.

This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

For more Utah reading, check out:

The 10 Poorest Cities In Utah For 2024

1. Moab

Moab, UT

Source: Wikipedia User Hurricanehink | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,329
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $52,385 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.9% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,058
More on Moab: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Moab, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Utah thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 5,329 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Utah and the 3rd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

2. Logan

Logan, UT

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 53,246
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $52,473 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.1% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 12,821
More on Logan: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The second poorest city in Utah is Logan.

The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 60th highest in the Beehive State.

3. Provo

Provo, UT

Source: Wikipedia User Creator: Javin Weaver | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 114,400
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $57,943 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.9% (highest)
People In Poverty: 28,474
More on Provo: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Placing as the third poorest city, Provo’s median income ranks as the 5th lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 24.89% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Beehive State.

4. Price

Price, UT

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,174
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $47,724 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.2% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,404
More on Price: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Price ranks as the fourth poorest place in Utah.

The town ranks as having the lowest median household income and the 6th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

5. Cedar City

Cedar City, UT

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 35,812
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $60,778 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.7% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 6,331
More on Cedar City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The fifth poorest city in Utah is Cedar City.

The city ranks as having the 7th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 5th highest in Utah.

Still not the best news for Cedar City.

6. Vernal

Vernal, UT

Source: Wikipedia User InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 10,141
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 2)
Median Income: $58,869 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.8% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,598
More on Vernal: Data | Cost Of Living

Vernal ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Beehive State.

It ranks as having the 8th highest incidence of poverty and the highest unemployment rate.

7. South Salt Lake

South Salt Lake, UT

Source: Wikipedia User SSLaker3 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 26,315
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $57,125 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.6% (11th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,839
More on South Salt Lake: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

South Salt Lake places as the seventh poorest city in Utah.

The city of over 26,315 ranks as having the 11th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

8. Roosevelt

Roosevelt, UT

Source: Flickr User Chovee | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,884
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 3)
Median Income: $66,552 (12th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 18.2% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,252
More on Roosevelt: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Roosevelt ranks as the eighth poorest city in Utah.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.

9. Ephraim

Ephraim, UT

Source: Wikipedia User Flickr user Ken Lund | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,739
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $70,677 (18th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.1% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 983
More on Ephraim: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Ephraim couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Utah; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 18th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Ephraim ranks as having the 7th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Utah.

10. Ogden

Ogden, UT

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 86,754
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $66,226 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.1% (14th highest)
People In Poverty: 10,514
More on Ogden: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Utah is Ogden.

The city of 86,754 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Beehive State.

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Utah for 2024

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income

After we collected the data for all 89 places with more than 5,000 people in Utah, we ranked each place from 1 to 89 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Moab, crowned the “Poorest Place In Utah For 2024”.

This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Utah.

Summary: The Poorest Cities In Utah For 2024

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Utah, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Utah.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Utah, according to data:

    Richest: Highland
    2nd Richest: South Weber
    3rd Richest: Midway

For more Utah reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Utah

Rank City Population Poverty Rate Median Income People In Poverty
1 Moab 5,329 19.9% $52,385 1,058
2 Logan 53,246 24.1% $52,473 12,821
3 Provo 114,400 24.9% $57,943 28,474
4 Price 8,174 17.2% $47,724 1,404
5 Cedar City 35,812 17.7% $60,778 6,331
6 Vernal 10,141 15.8% $58,869 1,598
7 South Salt Lake 26,315 14.6% $57,125 3,839
8 Roosevelt 6,884 18.2% $66,552 1,252
9 Ephraim 5,739 17.1% $70,677 983
10 Ogden 86,754 12.1% $66,226 10,514
11 Sunset 5,443 11.7% $64,604 634
12 Richfield 8,213 15.6% $70,477 1,277
13 Hurricane 20,609 10.5% $64,182 2,161
14 Clearfield 32,369 12.7% $69,889 4,120
15 Tremonton 10,273 10.9% $67,335 1,116
16 Ivins 9,174 11.2% $67,354 1,026
17 Brigham City 19,602 9.5% $63,315 1,866
18 Salt Lake City 201,269 14.1% $72,357 28,378
19 St. George 96,174 10.1% $69,333 9,723
20 North Logan 10,981 15.4% $80,597 1,696
21 Midvale 35,609 10.3% $70,742 3,653
22 Orem 97,100 9.8% $77,568 9,535
23 West Valley City 138,868 10.8% $81,719 15,039
24 Riverdale 9,313 7.4% $73,642 692
25 Washington Terrace 9,220 7.4% $72,558 685
26 Taylorsville 59,729 8.5% $81,417 5,082
27 South Ogden 17,476 7.7% $80,762 1,336
28 Hyrum 9,680 7.1% $75,951 685
29 Enoch 7,563 7.1% $74,438 533
30 Smithfield 13,658 7.6% $87,175 1,040
31 Vineyard 12,663 8.8% $94,018 1,119
32 Springville 35,195 7.0% $84,699 2,453
33 Layton 81,726 7.5% $93,453 6,153
34 Murray 50,041 6.2% $81,693 3,097
35 American Fork 33,986 6.8% $90,490 2,328
36 Hyde Park 5,264 7.3% $93,306 385
37 Payson 21,529 5.6% $81,387 1,209
38 Nephi 6,507 5.8% $89,026 376
39 Roy 39,064 5.5% $83,959 2,168
40 Hooper 9,080 7.8% $103,661 712
41 Bountiful 45,353 6.6% $96,060 3,002
42 Harrisville 6,909 4.8% $82,232 333
43 Providence 8,418 6.7% $98,454 563
44 Spanish Fork 42,694 6.0% $93,989 2,544
45 Grantsville 12,939 6.0% $94,260 769
46 Pleasant Grove 37,453 5.2% $91,322 1,966
47 Tooele 36,315 4.2% $84,225 1,528
48 West Jordan 116,383 6.1% $99,002 7,052
49 Cottonwood Heights 33,257 7.4% $110,197 2,457
50 Woods Cross 11,432 6.2% $101,742 712
51 North Ogden 21,065 6.2% $101,766 1,314
52 West Bountiful 5,905 8.1% $123,379 480
53 West Haven 18,334 4.5% $92,425 828
54 Nibley 7,373 5.6% $100,108 412
55 Heber 16,943 5.5% $98,934 933
56 Lindon 11,478 5.7% $101,188 648
57 Santaquin 14,463 3.9% $91,301 564
58 Washington 29,161 4.1% $94,655 1,183
59 Herriman 55,301 5.8% $115,198 3,224
60 Santa Clara 7,625 3.0% $91,625 231
61 Park City 8,379 7.4% $132,315 623
62 Holladay 31,563 5.0% $106,099 1,571
63 North Salt Lake 21,875 3.5% $94,365 776
64 Sandy 95,635 4.6% $108,165 4,370
65 Clinton 23,389 4.1% $102,712 958
66 Salem 9,467 3.8% $101,700 360
67 Alpine 10,260 6.5% $161,602 661
68 Farmington 24,463 4.7% $115,278 1,149
69 Eagle Mountain 46,109 3.4% $100,837 1,558
70 Lehi 77,110 4.8% $117,243 3,662
71 Perry 5,579 2.2% $97,259 123
72 Saratoga Springs 40,391 4.3% $117,005 1,744
73 Syracuse 32,798 5.5% $125,602 1,790
74 Riverton 44,864 3.5% $115,869 1,588
75 Cedar Hills 9,977 4.7% $130,847 469
76 Bluffdale 17,460 3.6% $119,009 635
77 Plain City 7,873 3.6% $120,250 284
78 Centerville 16,740 2.6% $113,697 436
79 Fruit Heights 6,018 3.0% $117,123 181
80 West Point 11,226 2.8% $114,801 308
81 Draper 50,635 4.1% $126,041 2,076
82 Farr West 7,747 1.8% $108,862 140
83 Kaysville 32,714 2.9% $121,867 958
84 Pleasant View 10,942 2.8% $121,086 301
85 South Jordan 78,118 2.6% $119,822 2,031
86 Mapleton 11,756 2.8% $123,534 327
87 Midway 6,019 2.8% $130,648 170
88 South Weber 7,939 1.4% $130,769 107
89 Highland 19,267 2.0% $166,429 387
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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