The 10 Poorest Cities In Utah For 2023


The poorest places in Utah are Moab and Logan for 2023 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


Here are the ten poorest places in Utah for 2023:

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

What’s the poorest city in Utah? According to the facts, Moab is the poorest place in Utah for 2023.

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:


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


The 10 Poorest Cities In Utah For 2023

1. Moab

Moab, UT

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

4
/10

Population: 5,329
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $42,083 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 23.5% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,251
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 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: 52,420
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $46,761 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.6% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 12,882
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 48th 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: 113,538
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $53,572 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.6% (highest)
People In Poverty: 27,909
More on Provo: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Placing as the third poorest city, Provo’s median income ranks as the 6th 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 24.58178483988334% 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: 8,192
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $45,429 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.1% (8th 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 2nd lowest median household income and the 8th 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. Vernal

Vernal, UT

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

5
/10

Population: 10,037
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $50,692 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.0% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,909
More on Vernal: Data | Cost Of Living

The fifth poorest city in Utah is Vernal.

The city ranks as having the 5th 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 Vernal.

6. South Salt Lake

South Salt Lake, UT

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

5
/10

Population: 26,086
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $50,589 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 18.2% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 4,751
More on South Salt Lake: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

South Salt Lake ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Beehive State.

It ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty and the 7th highest unemployment rate.

7. Cedar City

Cedar City, UT

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 34,246
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $55,022 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.0% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 6,497
More on Cedar City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Cedar City places as the seventh poorest city in Utah.

The city of over 34,246 ranks as having the 6th 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. Ephraim

Ephraim, UT

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

8
/10

Population: 5,671
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $60,982 (12th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.6% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,108
More on Ephraim: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Ephraim ranks as the eighth poorest city in Utah.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 2nd highest in the state.

9. Richfield

Richfield, UT

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

5
/10

Population: 8,086
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Median Income: $53,836 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 16.0% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,293
More on Richfield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

While the median income is the 7th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Richfield ranks as having the 10th 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: 86,110
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $58,284 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.3% (12th highest)
People In Poverty: 12,270
More on Ogden: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

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

The city of 86,110 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 2023

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 2017-2021 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 2023”.

This report has been updated for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Utah.

Summary: The Poorest Cities In Utah For 2023

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: Bluffdale

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 23.5% $42,083 1,251
2 Logan 52,420 24.6% $46,761 12,882
3 Provo 113,538 24.6% $53,572 27,909
4 Price 8,192 17.1% $45,429 1,404
5 Vernal 10,037 19.0% $50,692 1,909
6 South Salt Lake 26,086 18.2% $50,589 4,751
7 Cedar City 34,246 19.0% $55,022 6,497
8 Ephraim 5,671 19.6% $60,982 1,108
9 Richfield 8,086 16.0% $53,836 1,293
10 Ogden 86,110 14.3% $58,284 12,270
11 Roosevelt 6,757 17.1% $62,375 1,152
12 Hurricane 19,501 10.6% $57,409 2,061
13 Sunset 5,454 10.9% $62,950 592
14 Clearfield 31,802 11.6% $64,689 3,702
15 Salt Lake City 199,153 14.7% $65,880 29,243
16 St. George 92,875 10.5% $63,604 9,734
17 Brigham City 19,373 8.8% $60,615 1,702
18 Ivins 8,786 10.3% $64,786 906
19 Orem 96,734 10.5% $70,412 10,143
20 Riverdale 9,279 8.6% $63,079 793
21 Midvale 35,313 9.7% $65,897 3,408
22 West Valley City 139,361 10.9% $75,137 15,178
23 North Logan 10,705 13.8% $76,709 1,474
24 Washington Terrace 9,215 8.2% $65,253 758
25 Nephi 6,334 10.3% $74,113 652
26 Taylorsville 60,295 9.0% $73,325 5,436
27 Enoch 7,307 8.0% $65,625 581
28 Tremonton 9,727 7.0% $62,543 680
29 Payson 21,093 7.5% $75,682 1,585
30 Hyde Park 5,116 9.4% $82,787 481
31 Hyrum 9,330 7.0% $73,971 655
32 Murray 50,183 6.8% $72,524 3,398
33 Springville 34,750 7.7% $76,982 2,670
34 South Ogden 17,363 6.8% $74,724 1,183
35 Smithfield 13,263 7.4% $79,321 975
36 Vineyard 11,579 7.8% $86,355 902
37 Providence 8,199 8.2% $89,167 672
38 Roy 39,076 5.8% $76,611 2,272
39 Layton 80,858 7.0% $85,224 5,695
40 American Fork 32,822 6.3% $82,772 2,071
41 Pleasant Grove 37,228 6.1% $81,850 2,257
42 Tooele 35,223 5.1% $76,618 1,793
43 Spanish Fork 41,953 6.1% $84,903 2,556
44 North Ogden 20,703 7.5% $93,490 1,560
45 West Jordan 116,045 6.5% $90,227 7,502
46 Washington 27,689 4.6% $79,450 1,280
47 West Bountiful 5,871 8.8% $110,906 516
48 Harrisville 6,858 4.1% $77,426 281
49 West Haven 16,918 4.7% $84,461 795
50 Holladay 31,738 6.4% $97,911 2,024
51 Grantsville 12,331 5.0% $84,923 616
52 Woods Cross 11,372 5.5% $89,441 629
53 Nibley 7,160 5.3% $90,188 380
54 Santa Clara 7,418 4.6% $84,128 342
55 Heber 16,416 4.8% $86,365 786
56 Santaquin 13,602 3.8% $82,057 522
57 Bountiful 45,496 5.1% $89,365 2,300
58 Cottonwood Heights 33,597 6.1% $99,645 2,035
59 Park City 8,352 7.4% $121,701 619
60 Pleasant View 10,733 6.1% $110,687 651
61 North Salt Lake 21,411 2.9% $84,661 627
62 Eagle Mountain 42,905 4.6% $91,993 1,974
63 Alpine 10,209 6.9% $138,438 702
64 Herriman 52,860 5.7% $109,154 3,036
65 Lehi 73,911 5.2% $108,669 3,855
66 Salem 9,097 3.6% $92,250 328
67 Saratoga Springs 36,977 4.7% $106,844 1,723
68 Syracuse 31,715 6.0% $114,864 1,908
69 Perry 5,444 2.7% $89,069 146
70 Sandy 96,272 4.1% $100,749 3,944
71 Plain City 7,662 4.6% $107,222 353
72 Clinton 23,192 2.9% $90,397 668
73 Cedar Hills 9,975 5.2% $117,984 522
74 Lindon 11,346 3.1% $100,351 357
75 Fruit Heights 5,969 3.3% $104,593 196
76 Farmington 23,990 3.5% $107,559 828
77 Draper 49,978 4.7% $116,977 2,331
78 Centerville 16,711 3.3% $107,808 553
79 Riverton 44,773 3.2% $107,674 1,440
80 Hooper 8,941 2.6% $103,828 230
81 Farr West 7,581 1.4% $98,088 102
82 West Point 10,963 1.6% $103,975 179
83 Kaysville 32,438 3.2% $110,700 1,024
84 Mapleton 11,226 3.1% $114,449 351
85 Midway 5,881 2.5% $108,672 146
86 South Jordan 75,617 2.8% $111,774 2,108
87 Bluffdale 16,576 2.5% $113,007 419
88 South Weber 7,801 1.6% $120,365 125
89 Highland 18,913 1.3% $156,136 254
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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