The 10 Worst Small Towns In Utah For 2025

Most Americans have never been to small town Utah. However, as the Utahan who live there know, small town Utah is an awesome place to call home.

But is it all roses? Definitely not. Just like any other state, Utah has its trouble spots. This article aims to determine, using Saturday Night Science, the absolute worst small towns to live in the Beehive State. Don’t freak out, we will use data to show which places have high crime, poverty, and unemployment.

After analyzing more than 70 of Utah’s smallest cities, we came up with this list as the 10 worst small towns in Utah where you’d never want to live:

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

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These are the worst small towns in Utah for 2025:

1. Wendover
2. East Carbon
3. Wellington
4. Ballard
5. Hildale
6. Salina
7. Parowan
8. Blanding
9. Gunnison
10. Fillmore

So what is the worst small town to call home in Utah for 2025? According to the most recent census data, Wendover is the worst small town to live in Utah.

While many of these small towns have seen better days, they have wonderful communities and people. This report in no way means to knock the folks that call towns like Wendover home. Everyone

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers, or scroll to the bottom to see how your town ranked.

And if you already know about the small towns, check out the best places to live in Utah or the worst places to live in Utah.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.

The 10 Worst Small Towns In Utah For 2025

1. Wendover

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,264
Median Home Value: $166,700
Median Income: $45,938
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%

2. East Carbon

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,476
Median Home Value: $86,500
Median Income: $40,114
Unemployment Rate: 14.1%

3. Wellington

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,526
Median Home Value: $173,100
Median Income: $58,807
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%

4. Ballard

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,648
Median Home Value: $241,100
Median Income: $81,250
Unemployment Rate: 9.7%

5. Hildale

Source: Wikipedia User No machine-readable author provided. Ricardo630 assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 2.5

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,301
Median Home Value: $385,900
Median Income: $62,727
Unemployment Rate: 8.9%

6. Salina

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

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,521
Median Home Value: $257,200
Median Income: $64,464
Unemployment Rate: 10.1%

7. Parowan

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,095
Median Home Value: $299,800
Median Income: $49,934
Unemployment Rate: 8.4%

8. Blanding

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,303
Median Home Value: $225,000
Median Income: $63,333
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%

9. Gunnison

Source: Wikipedia User No machine-readable author provided. C.Maylett assumed (based on copyright claims). | GFDL

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,537
Median Home Value: $247,600
Median Income: $66,111
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%

10. Fillmore

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,633
Median Home Value: $275,400
Median Income: $77,000
Unemployment Rate: 8.0%

Next 10 Towns

Methodology: How do you decide if a small place in Utah is lousy or not?

To rank the worst small towns to live in Utah, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place. Assuming that people like low crime, solid education, things to do, and a stable economy isn’t a stretch.

We then analyzed the criteria using Saturday Night Science, the thinking you’d use at a bar. It seems like even your crazy Uncle would agree that a town with high crime is worse than a town with low crime; all else the same.

Using FBI crime data and the Census’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:

• Population Density (The lower, the worse)
• Highest Unemployment Rates
• Low housing costs (meaning there’s no demand)
• Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
• Education (Number of high school dropouts)
• High Crime

We looked at cities with populations between 1,000 and 5,000 people, of which there were many – 70 to be exact.

We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets them from the cities. Dropout numbers are based on the adult population, not just the current graduation rates of teenagers.

We base all our research on facts, which is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2025, which is our tenth time ranking the worst small places to live in Utah.

There You Have It – The Worst Small Towns In Utah

If you’re analyzing teeny places in the Beehive State with the worst economic situations, where there’s high crime and there’s not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.

The worst small towns in Utah are Wendover, East Carbon, Wellington, Ballard, Hildale, Salina, Parowan, Blanding, Gunnison, and Fillmore.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best small towns to live in Utah, according to science:

1. Wolf Creek (Pop. 1,599)
2. Morgan (Pop. 4,268)
3. Mendon (Pop. 1,446)

For more Utah reading, check out:

Worst Small Towns In Utah

Rank	Town	Population	Unemployment Rate	Home Value	Median Income
1	Wendover	1,264	3.7%	$166,700	$45,938
2	East Carbon	1,476	14.1%	$86,500	$40,114
3	Wellington	1,526	6.1%	$173,100	$58,807
4	Ballard	1,648	9.7%	$241,100	$81,250
5	Hildale	1,301	8.9%	$385,900	$62,727
6	Salina	2,521	10.1%	$257,200	$64,464
7	Parowan	3,095	8.4%	$299,800	$49,934
8	Blanding	3,303	3.3%	$225,000	$63,333
9	Gunnison	3,537	2.7%	$247,600	$66,111
10	Fillmore	2,633	8.0%	$275,400	$77,000
11	Mount Pleasant	3,737	5.3%	$269,200	$67,459
12	La Verkin	4,429	4.6%	$366,500	$63,061
13	Huntington	2,271	7.1%	$192,700	$79,091
14	Duchesne	1,744	3.0%	$216,700	$78,854
15	Apple Valley	1,399	6.5%	$498,400	$89,375
16	Spring City	1,094	8.1%	$294,000	$65,139
17	Delta	3,675	8.4%	$255,400	$73,224
18	Thatcher	1,094	1.9%	$327,800	$91,042
19	Garland	2,609	3.4%	$318,000	$65,369
20	Benson	1,864	7.4%	$281,400	$82,019
21	Manti	3,532	2.8%	$272,100	$59,500
22	Ferron	1,361	10.3%	$213,300	$68,324
23	Centerfield	1,312	4.8%	$296,700	$83,281
24	Fountain Green	1,539	5.7%	$321,000	$70,402
25	Monroe	2,570	4.2%	$267,700	$63,807
26	Panguitch	1,871	9.7%	$249,300	$75,283
27	Hideout	1,111	0.0%	$947,400	$76,912
28	Coalville	1,915	0.8%	$455,000	$85,921
29	Helper	2,680	4.7%	$207,700	$61,908
30	Fairview	1,389	4.2%	$256,200	$59,750
31	Carbonville	1,410	0.0%	$208,500	$64,405
32	Riverside	1,238	0.0%	$380,600	$71,952
33	Kanab	4,950	5.2%	$378,600	$80,040
34	Milford	1,400	6.1%	$243,500	$79,861
35	Moroni	1,238	3.0%	$254,300	$71,500
36	Enterprise	1,543	2.2%	$311,700	$72,407
37	Maeser	4,533	1.7%	$315,100	$77,873
38	Honeyville	1,383	3.1%	$435,500	$80,347
39	Naples	3,217	5.9%	$264,100	$94,048
40	Beaver	3,632	0.0%	$295,700	$82,625
41	Castle Dale	1,463	1.9%	$174,700	$69,821
42	Kamas	2,229	1.4%	$455,900	$87,353
43	Elwood	1,643	5.4%	$480,100	$99,375
44	Monticello	1,941	0.0%	$307,900	$63,750
45	Marriott-Slaterville	1,885	2.4%	$495,700	$89,602
46	Orangeville	1,281	1.7%	$204,300	$89,643
47	Oakley	1,812	3.5%	$631,200	$102,143
48	Genola	1,766	0.4%	$601,000	$137,661
49	Lake Shore	1,242	14.5%	$671,400	$97,357
50	Willard	2,008	0.9%	$389,600	$91,875
51	Silver Summit	1,574	8.4%	$2,000,001	$235,329
52	Lewiston	2,225	2.3%	$332,300	$88,333
53	Wellsville	4,120	1.7%	$403,500	$110,543
54	Toquerville	2,115	2.9%	$463,200	$91,818
55	Mona	1,647	1.2%	$418,900	$91,552
56	West Mountain	1,371	3.5%	$639,300	$107,222
57	Millville	1,820	1.5%	$407,000	$90,417
58	Liberty	1,333	1.2%	$688,600	$96,250
59	Mantua	1,642	1.2%	$570,000	$134,239
60	Elk Ridge	4,782	4.0%	$565,200	$138,587
61	South Willard	1,378	0.0%	$537,800	$114,063
62	Francis	1,797	0.6%	$700,900	$113,500
63	River Heights	2,179	2.1%	$427,900	$109,063
64	Woodland Hills	1,439	2.9%	$736,100	$137,426
65	Uintah	1,461	2.4%	$462,800	$101,417
66	Richmond	2,971	1.0%	$348,700	$103,047
67	Mountain Green	3,739	2.1%	$700,800	$145,925
68	Wolf Creek	1,599	0.0%	$699,500	$162,708
69	Morgan	4,268	2.4%	$463,100	$114,102
70	Mendon	1,446	0.8%	$525,000	$141,563