Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Utah with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Utah that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Utah at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Hyde Park.
2.4% population growth · 0.5% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.6% population growth · 2.3% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.4% population growth · 1.0% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
1.0% population growth · -4.6% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · -3.0% home price growth
Moab is a city on the southern edge of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States. The population was 5,046 at the 2010 census, and in 2015 the population was estimated to be 5,235. It is the county seat and largest city in Grand County. Moab attracts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The town is a popular base for mountain bikers who ride the extensive network of trails including the Slickrock Trail, and for off-roaders who come for the annual Moab Jeep Safari.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.4% population growth · 1.7% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · 1.0% home price growth
Located in
Davis County, Utah
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.8% population growth · 2.3% home price growth
Located in
Juab County, Utah
Nephi is a city in Juab County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,733 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Juab County. It was settled by Mormon pioneers in 1851, as Salt Creek until 1882 when it acquired its current name. It is the principal city in the Juab Valley, an agricultural area. Nephi was named after Nephi, son of Lehi from the Book of Mormon.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.2% population growth · 1.3% home price growth
Located in
Davis County, Utah
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.2% population growth · 1.6% home price growth
Located in
Weber County, Utah
Harrisville is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. The population was 3,645 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Utah’s statewide median.
Utah statewide median: $537,810
On the map
Where Utah’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Utah for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Utah. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Utah with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Utah, with these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 5,000 people.
So of the 322 cities and towns in Utah, only 90 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 90 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Hyde Park is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Beehive State. The median Utah home is 32 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In Utah
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hyde Park | 5,540 | $570,837 | 2.4% | 0.5% |
| 2 | Kanab | 5,081 | $432,201 | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| 3 | Perry | 5,843 | $533,898 | 2.4% | 1.0% |
| 4 | Midway | 6,171 | $934,920 | 1.0% | -4.6% |
| 5 | Moab | 5,312 | $543,317 | -0.1% | -3.0% |
| 6 | Sunset | 5,587 | $377,637 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| 7 | West Bountiful | 5,915 | $602,324 | -0.1% | 1.0% |
| 8 | Nephi | 6,885 | $452,334 | 2.8% | 2.3% |
| 9 | Fruit Heights | 6,023 | $758,826 | -0.2% | 1.3% |
| 10 | Harrisville | 6,935 | $451,088 | 0.2% | 1.6% |
| 11 | Nibley | 7,952 | $484,028 | 3.9% | 0.1% |
| 12 | Enoch | 8,144 | $454,954 | 3.7% | 2.0% |
| 13 | Roosevelt | 7,078 | $350,393 | 1.7% | 2.1% |
| 14 | Plain City | 8,396 | $636,932 | 3.6% | 2.6% |
| 15 | Farr West | 7,952 | $635,263 | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| 16 | Ephraim | 5,949 | $465,611 | 2.5% | -1.6% |
| 17 | South Weber | 8,115 | $603,380 | 1.0% | 1.6% |
| 18 | Providence | 8,947 | $527,895 | 3.1% | 5.7% |
| 19 | Richfield | 8,224 | $329,292 | 0.6% | 2.0% |
| 20 | Santa Clara | 8,152 | $536,259 | 3.3% | 1.4% |
| 21 | Price | 8,248 | $310,716 | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| 22 | Salem | 10,324 | $611,418 | 4.4% | -0.9% |
| 23 | Hyrum | 10,401 | $445,966 | 3.8% | 1.8% |
| 24 | Park City | 8,362 | $1,588,140 | -0.0% | 4.3% |
| 25 | Vineyard | 14,446 | $525,876 | 6.9% | 0.6% |
| 26 | Riverdale | 9,279 | $461,455 | -0.2% | 1.0% |
| 27 | Hooper | 9,338 | $644,646 | 1.3% | 1.0% |
| 28 | Tremonton | 11,477 | $431,066 | 5.4% | 1.9% |
| 29 | Ivins | 9,998 | $617,241 | 5.0% | 0.8% |
| 30 | Washington Terrace | 9,182 | $396,702 | -0.2% | 1.0% |
| 31 | Cedar Hills | 9,950 | $665,411 | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| 32 | Mapleton | 13,114 | $730,777 | 6.3% | -2.5% |
| 33 | Vernal | 10,392 | $290,521 | 1.3% | 0.8% |
| 34 | Pleasant View | 11,217 | $671,687 | 1.0% | -0.0% |
| 35 | Alpine | 10,392 | $1,172,442 | 1.2% | 1.5% |
| 36 | West Point | 11,929 | $554,465 | 3.2% | 0.9% |
| 37 | North Logan | 11,460 | $545,675 | 2.1% | 2.0% |
| 38 | Lindon | 11,765 | $726,560 | 1.5% | 0.8% |
| 39 | Woods Cross | 11,531 | $531,313 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| 40 | Grantsville | 14,341 | $528,197 | 5.2% | 0.6% |
| 41 | Smithfield | 14,408 | $464,323 | 2.7% | -0.4% |
| 42 | Santaquin | 16,436 | $494,553 | 6.8% | 0.1% |
| 43 | Bluffdale | 18,797 | $612,682 | 3.5% | -0.4% |
| 44 | West Haven | 21,563 | $528,107 | 7.9% | 0.6% |
| 45 | Heber | 18,015 | $718,911 | 3.3% | 7.9% |
| 46 | South Ogden | 17,650 | $431,143 | 0.5% | 1.3% |
| 47 | Centerville | 16,679 | $588,129 | -0.1% | 1.9% |
| 48 | Hurricane | 22,771 | $504,102 | 5.0% | 0.5% |
| 49 | Highland | 20,119 | $971,050 | 2.5% | 0.8% |
| 50 | Brigham City | 19,992 | $413,632 | 1.0% | 2.7% |
| 51 | North Ogden | 21,947 | $531,734 | 2.2% | 1.1% |
| 52 | Payson | 23,039 | $468,628 | 3.8% | 0.8% |
| 53 | North Salt Lake | 23,474 | $575,886 | 1.0% | 0.9% |
| 54 | Clinton | 23,612 | $497,696 | 0.5% | 1.5% |
| 55 | Farmington | 25,389 | $692,138 | 1.8% | 1.7% |
| 56 | South Salt Lake | 26,352 | $440,875 | 0.3% | 2.4% |
| 57 | Washington | 32,348 | $544,670 | 5.4% | 0.1% |
| 58 | Syracuse | 35,488 | $584,934 | 4.3% | 0.9% |
| 59 | Holladay | 31,099 | $832,130 | -0.4% | 2.7% |
| 60 | Saratoga Springs | 48,425 | $560,223 | 9.9% | -1.4% |
| 61 | Clearfield | 33,523 | $424,500 | 1.9% | 1.5% |
| 62 | American Fork | 37,109 | $525,231 | 5.1% | 2.1% |
| 63 | Kaysville | 33,053 | $682,325 | 0.6% | 1.8% |
| 64 | Springville | 35,849 | $509,192 | 1.1% | 1.9% |
| 65 | Cedar City | 38,524 | $403,487 | 3.6% | 1.5% |
| 66 | Midvale | 35,989 | $492,783 | 0.7% | 1.6% |
| 67 | Cottonwood Heights | 32,828 | $777,468 | -0.5% | 2.3% |
| 68 | Tooele | 38,405 | $432,504 | 3.1% | -0.0% |
| 69 | Eagle Mountain | 53,290 | $510,057 | 7.6% | -0.6% |
| 70 | Pleasant Grove | 37,852 | $555,047 | 0.8% | 2.4% |
| 71 | Roy | 38,993 | $436,793 | -0.1% | 1.9% |
| 72 | Spanish Fork | 44,946 | $514,916 | 3.0% | 1.5% |
| 73 | Riverton | 45,457 | $625,364 | 1.1% | 1.4% |
| 74 | Bountiful | 45,023 | $578,284 | -0.2% | 2.6% |
| 75 | Herriman | 59,346 | $607,545 | 3.5% | 0.6% |
| 76 | Draper | 50,278 | $806,898 | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| 77 | Murray | 50,188 | $551,624 | 0.6% | 2.6% |
| 78 | Logan | 54,907 | $391,019 | 1.8% | 1.0% |
| 79 | Taylorsville | 58,678 | $497,266 | -0.6% | 2.1% |
| 80 | Lehi | 85,173 | $568,596 | 5.1% | 1.2% |
| 81 | South Jordan | 82,686 | $665,928 | 2.9% | 1.3% |
| 82 | Layton | 83,286 | $527,623 | 0.9% | 1.7% |
| 83 | Ogden | 87,413 | $400,514 | 0.5% | 1.0% |
| 84 | St. George | 101,995 | $519,370 | 2.8% | 0.7% |
| 85 | Sandy | 94,291 | $665,522 | -0.5% | 2.1% |
| 86 | Orem | 97,182 | $504,054 | 0.1% | 1.8% |
| 87 | West Jordan | 116,692 | $561,836 | 0.4% | 1.9% |
| 88 | Provo | 114,766 | $484,203 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| 89 | West Valley City | 138,437 | $471,862 | 0.3% | 1.9% |
| 90 | Salt Lake City | 208,007 | $573,181 | 2.0% | 2.4% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 90 Utah cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Utah for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Utah. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 322 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Utah are Hyde Park, Kanab, Perry, Midway, Moab, Sunset, West Bountiful, Nephi, Fruit Heights, and Harrisville.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy. Not sold on Utah? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Places To Buy A House In Utah FAQs
What is the best city in Utah to buy a house?
Hyde Park is the best place to buy a house in Utah for 2026. Its population is growing, home values are rising, and the median home still costs $570,837. Kanab and Perry are next on the list.
What are the best cities to buy a home in Utah?
The best cities to buy a house in Utah are Hyde Park, Kanab, Perry, Midway, Moab, Sunset, West Bountiful, Nephi, Fruit Heights, and Harrisville. Only 90 of the 322 places in Utah cleared our filters on growth and home prices.
How much does a house cost in Hyde Park?
The median home value in Hyde Park is $570,837, versus $537,810 across Utah. Across the full top ten, the median home runs $538,608.
How do you pick the best places to buy a home in Utah?
We look for Utah places where the population is growing, home prices are climbing, and homes are still cheap relative to the state average, using Census American Community Survey data. Cities that hit all three get the highest Buy Index scores.
Is this a guarantee home values will go up?
No. This is not investment advice — just where the data points to potential value. The Buy Index says these markets look healthier than most of Utah, not that any single house is a good deal.
