Utah is possibly one of the most misunderstood states in the nation. You’ve got a very right-leaning group, the dominance of the LDS church, and then you have Salt Lake City, which is ranked as one of the largest in terms of LGBT populations in the nation.
It’s a really beautiful state, no question. And it stays quiet, remaining out of the headlines, despite being one of the most hard-working and wealthiest states in the U.S.
Is it all rosy in the Beehive State? Of course not. Just like every other state, Utah has its least desirable spots. The purpose of this post is to use science and data to determine which places are the worst you could possibly live in if you make Utah your home.
After analyzing 83 of the state’s most populous cities (over 5,100 people), we came up with this list as the 10 worst places to live in the state of Utah:
The 10 Worst Places To Live In Utah For 2023
Where are these places, you wonder? And before you get all riled up and say we’re picking on small towns in Utah, that’s not the case.
We understand there’s a lot of good in every place. For example, the best place to live in Utah is Syracuse.
However, according to data (which doesn’t measure things like beauty and ‘friendly people’), the state has far better options for making a place home. And the worst place to live in Utah? The worst place to live in Utah is South Salt Lake.
Read below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your city fared in 2023.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.
For more Utah reading, check out:
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Worst Places To Live In Utah For 2023
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Methodology: How we determined the worst places to live in Utah for 2023
To figure out the worst places to live in Utah, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.
We don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that people like the following things:
- Good education
- Lots of jobs
- Low crime
- Low poverty
- Nice homes
- High incomes
- High population density (Lots of things to do)
- Short work commutes
- Health insurance
The data comes from the Census’s most recent American Community Survey and the FBI Uniform Crime Report.
We broke crime down into violent crime and property crime to give violent crime a more significant weight. If you did a simple calculation of all crimes per capita, property crimes are typically 7x more common and bias that ranking.
Furthermore, only cities with at least 5,000 people were considered — leaving 83 cities.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 83 for all the criteria, with a #1 ranking being the worst for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the rankings into one “Worst Place To Live Score.”
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Worst Place To Live Score,” with the lowest score being the worst city in Utah — South Salt Lake. Read on for a detailed look at the ten worst cities in Utah.
Summary: Wrapping Up The Worst In Utah
If you’re looking at areas in Utah with the worst economic situations, where there’s higher than average crime and little to do, this is an accurate list.
And in the end, South Salt Lake ranks as the worst city to live in Utah for 2023.
If you’re curious enough, here are the best cities to live in Utah:
- Farmington (Pop. 23,990)
- Kaysville (Pop. 32,438)
- Syracuse (Pop. 31,715)
For more Utah reading, check out:
Worst Places To Live In Utah?
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | South Salt Lake | 26,086 |
2 | Roosevelt | 6,757 |
3 | Tooele | 35,223 |
4 | Ogden | 86,110 |
5 | Taylorsville | 60,295 |
6 | Price | 8,192 |
7 | Midvale | 35,313 |
8 | Washington Terrace | 9,215 |
9 | Richfield | 8,086 |
10 | Ivins | 8,786 |
11 | Moab | 5,329 |
12 | Sunset | 5,454 |
13 | Santa Clara | 7,418 |
14 | Santaquin | 13,602 |
15 | West Jordan | 116,045 |
16 | Grantsville | 12,331 |
17 | Riverdale | 9,279 |
18 | Hurricane | 19,501 |
19 | Harrisville | 6,858 |
20 | St. George | 92,875 |
21 | Ephraim | 5,671 |
22 | Murray | 50,183 |
23 | West Haven | 16,918 |
24 | Vernal | 10,037 |
25 | Eagle Mountain | 42,905 |
26 | Tremonton | 9,727 |
27 | Hooper | 8,941 |
28 | Hyrum | 9,330 |
29 | Provo | 113,538 |
30 | Clearfield | 31,802 |
31 | Payson | 21,093 |
32 | Orem | 96,734 |
33 | Nephi | 6,334 |
34 | South Ogden | 17,363 |
35 | Farr West | 7,581 |
36 | Logan | 52,420 |
37 | Enoch | 7,307 |
38 | Washington | 27,689 |
39 | Layton | 80,858 |
40 | American Fork | 32,822 |
41 | Springville | 34,750 |
42 | Woods Cross | 11,372 |
43 | Roy | 39,076 |
44 | Vineyard | 11,579 |
45 | Sandy | 96,272 |
46 | North Salt Lake | 21,411 |
47 | Clinton | 23,192 |
48 | South Weber | 7,801 |
49 | Midway | 5,881 |
50 | Lindon | 11,346 |
51 | Holladay | 31,738 |
52 | North Ogden | 20,703 |
53 | Heber | 16,416 |
54 | Hyde Park | 5,116 |
55 | Lehi | 73,911 |
56 | Nibley | 7,160 |
57 | Draper | 49,978 |
58 | Pleasant Grove | 37,228 |
59 | Pleasant View | 10,733 |
60 | West Point | 10,963 |
61 | Herriman | 52,860 |
62 | Cottonwood Heights | 33,597 |
63 | North Logan | 10,705 |
64 | Alpine | 10,209 |
65 | West Bountiful | 5,871 |
66 | Riverton | 44,773 |
67 | Saratoga Springs | 36,977 |
68 | Highland | 18,913 |
69 | Fruit Heights | 5,969 |
70 | Perry | 5,444 |
71 | Bluffdale | 16,576 |
72 | South Jordan | 75,617 |
73 | Smithfield | 13,263 |
74 | Spanish Fork | 41,953 |
75 | Centerville | 16,711 |
76 | Salem | 9,097 |
77 | Cedar Hills | 9,975 |
78 | Providence | 8,199 |
79 | Bountiful | 45,496 |
80 | Mapleton | 11,226 |
81 | Farmington | 23,990 |
82 | Kaysville | 32,438 |
83 | Syracuse | 31,715 |