The 10 Worst Places To Live In Utah For 2023

The 10 Worst Places To Live In Utah For 2023

When you’re looking at the worst places you could live in Utah, South Salt Lake came in 1st. Let’s see why.

Welcome to the 4th most dangerous city in Utah. Is that surprising?

There were two murders here in 2023, and when you’re in SSL, you have a 1 in 99 chance of being raped, attacked or murdered yourself every year. Plus, you have a 1 in 13.5 chance of being robbed here as well.

Not only is there a lot of crime here, the residents here earn just about the lowest salaries in Utah, bringing in $50,589 a year combined. Education and home values are also far below the state average.

Roosevelt was founded in 1906. Can you guess who was president at the time? That’s right: Theodore Roosevelt. Lucky too, because the town’s original name was Dry Gulch. That just doesn’t have the same ring.

This community of 6,757 residents, located in the northeast part of the state, has a boom-bust relationship with the local oil reserves. Sometimes, the oil is pumping and life in town gets flush. Other times, wells run dry and the town suffers.

Currently, Roosevelt faces an unemployment rate of 8.8%, though those oil jobs help to support a median income of $62,375. Crime runs about 40% above the national average.

Tooele stands in the north-central part of the state, just south of the Great Salt Lake and about 40 minutes outside of Salt Lake City. The town’s economy chugs along rather nicely. The unemployment rate hovers at an elevated 3.9%, but the median income comes in at a healthy $76,618. Housing and education are relatively strong as well.

Still, Tooele ends up on this list. What’s the issue? Well, given its location, commutes are difficult. At the same time, crime presents a modest problem, with a crime rate slightly above the national average.

Would you believe that Ogden is the 11th most dangerous place in Utah? That’s the case, as every year, you have a 1 in 31.9 chance of being the victim of a property crime when you’re within Ogden city limits.

In addition, every year, you have a 1 in 177 chance of being a victim of a violent crime in Ogden. That means raped, attacked or killed. Again, for Utah, that’s just unacceptable.

Beyond the crime numbers, Ogden’s unemployment rate is the 14th highest in Utah (4.5%), and homes are the 6th cheapest in the state ($221,400). Say what you want about ‘cheap living’, the fact is homes are priced on demand, and there’s not a lot of demand to live in Ogden.

Here’s another suburb of Salt Lake City that winds up ranked among the least appealing spots in the state. And, once again, affordability represents the community’s major sin.

After all, the economy in town underpins a median income of $73,325. And the unemployment rate comes in at a respectable 4.9%. Diversity, housing, and education are all strong as well.

Then you get to the cost of living. Different story. In Taylorsville, you’ll spend more than the national average on groceries, healthcare, and transportation. At the same time, the median home value hovers at $291,500.

Price has a small university presence and a museum, but that’s just about it. Located out in the middle of nowhere, (a long drive from Provo), you can imagine why home prices are just about as cheap as you can get. In fact, at $153,700, homes are a steal here if you can tolerate the isolation.

Few other city have cheaper homes.

As you can imagine, finding work way out here can be tough. The unemployment rate (8.2%) is the 4th highest in the state.

But the schools are highly rated. At least they have that.

A suburb of Salt Lake City, Midvale stands just 15 minutes from the center of the state’s biggest metropolitan area. This gives the local economy a major boost. The median income hovers at $65,897 and the unemployment rate comes in at 3.9%.

This financial good fortune comes with a downside, though. The cost of living makes it difficult for many of the town’s 35,313 residents. Services, groceries, and healthcare are all more expensive than the national average. At the same time, locals struggle to afford housing, thanks to Midvale’s $301,600 median home value.