Best PlacesSalt Lake County, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Salt Lake County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Salt Lake County ranks 115th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $108,425, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, air quality, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Salt Lake County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Salt Lake County
The parts of Salt Lake County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Sandy
Schools score higher, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Herriman & South Jordan
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Holladay & Cottonwood Heights
More adults hold degrees and more residents vote.
Riverton, Draper & Bluffdale
Transit reaches fewer jobs and streets are more car-dependent.
Salt Lake City
Health care is easier to reach, though more homes sit empty.
West Jordan & Kearns
Biking is worse.
Taylorsville, Murray & Midvale
It is noisier.
West Valley City & Magna
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
South Salt Lake
Prices have run up more and disaster risk is higher.
Salt Lake County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Salt Lake County's strengths and weaknesses
Salt Lake County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Biking and fast internet follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, air quality, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Salt Lake County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of counties
Where Salt Lake County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Salt Lake County
A household needs to earn about $140,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Salt Lake County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $108,425, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Salt Lake County's effective rate of 0.52%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Salt Lake County.
Who works in Salt Lake County, and how
Work in Salt Lake County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County has more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Salt Lake County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Salt Lake County growing, and who is moving in?
Salt Lake County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Provo, UT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Salt Lake County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Salt Lake County, month by month
Salt Lake County sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 68° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Salt Lake County
Salt Lake City International sits about 11 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.4 million passengers in 2025, with 154 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Salt Lake County
Schools across Salt Lake County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sunrise SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Howard R. Driggs SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Peruvian Park SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Albion MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Draper Park MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Butler MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Academy For Math Engineering & ScienceA− · 62% proficient
- Itineris Early College HighA− · 62% proficient
- Skyline HighA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Salt Lake County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Salt Lake County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Salt Lake County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Salt Lake County suits
Families
Schools land around the 49th percentile and crime safety beats 86%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Salt Lake County
Is Salt Lake County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Salt Lake County ranks 115th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and fast internet, and lowest on noise and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Salt Lake County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $557,285. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $108,425 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Salt Lake County safe?
Yes, Salt Lake County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $363 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Salt Lake County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 25. That works out to about 129 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Salt Lake County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sandy, Herriman & South Jordan, and Holladay & Cottonwood Heights. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Salt Lake County good for families?
Schools beat 49% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $929 a month.
Is Salt Lake County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 99% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Salt Lake County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Salt Lake County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Salt Lake County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Salt Lake County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Salt Lake County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Salt Lake County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Salt Lake County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Salt Lake County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Salt Lake County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.