Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Utah a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Utah.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Beehive State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Utah, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 29 counties in the state.
Morgan County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Utah. And you should avoid San Juan County if you can — at least according to the data.
$130,929 median income · 2.3% unemployment
$138,114 median income · 1.8% unemployment
$117,608 median income · 2.0% unemployment
$79,009 median income · 0.0% unemployment
$110,884 median income · 2.7% unemployment
$101,786 median income · 2.2% unemployment
$106,587 median income · 3.6% unemployment
$100,671 median income · 3.8% unemployment
$76,607 median income · 2.1% unemployment
$90,005 median income · 3.0% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Utah’s statewide median.
Utah statewide median: $95,166
Utah statewide median: $537,810
Utah statewide median: 3.6%
On the map
Where Utah’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Utah county is the best?
To give you the best county in Utah, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Utah across each of the criteria from one to 29, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Utah.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Beehive State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Utah.
Read on to see why Morgan County is the best county, while San Juan County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Utah.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Utah
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan County | 12,802 | $130,929 | $743,323 |
| 2 | Summit County | 42,970 | $138,114 | $1,326,103 |
| 3 | Wasatch County | 36,642 | $117,608 | $948,347 |
| 4 | Rich County | 2,631 | $79,009 | $587,240 |
| 5 | Davis County | 370,924 | $110,884 | $560,307 |
| 6 | Juab County | 12,586 | $101,786 | $451,649 |
| 7 | Tooele County | 79,347 | $106,587 | $478,644 |
| 8 | Utah County | 705,400 | $100,671 | $543,536 |
| 9 | Wayne County | 2,584 | $76,607 | $446,681 |
| 10 | Weber County | 269,648 | $90,005 | $462,492 |
| 11 | Box Elder County | 61,246 | $84,550 | $454,737 |
| 12 | Cache County | 140,046 | $81,665 | $467,957 |
| 13 | Kane County | 8,170 | $77,092 | $421,816 |
| 14 | Salt Lake County | 1,196,523 | $97,494 | $573,292 |
| 15 | Washington County | 196,431 | $80,632 | $529,491 |
| 16 | Grand County | 9,754 | $67,106 | $579,672 |
| 17 | Beaver County | 7,273 | $79,360 | $312,684 |
| 18 | Emery County | 10,046 | $74,291 | $296,392 |
| 19 | Duchesne County | 20,185 | $78,445 | $365,470 |
| 20 | Sevier County | 22,085 | $74,884 | $330,959 |
| 21 | Millard County | 13,315 | $73,639 | $342,863 |
| 22 | Garfield County | 5,219 | $61,875 | $253,584 |
| 23 | Iron County | 62,252 | $66,247 | $409,490 |
| 24 | Daggett County | 783 | $66,000 | $354,107 |
| 25 | Sanpete County | 29,719 | $70,083 | $385,224 |
| 26 | Carbon County | 20,517 | $58,377 | $279,605 |
| 27 | Piute County | 1,694 | $48,393 | $290,993 |
| 28 | Uintah County | 37,056 | $73,746 | $352,589 |
| 29 | San Juan County | 14,483 | $64,481 | $356,378 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 29 Utah counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Utah To Call Home For 2026
Living in Utah can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Utah are Morgan County, Summit County, Wasatch County, Rich County, Davis County, Juab County, Tooele County, Utah County, Wayne County, and Weber County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
