Best PlacesWest Valley City, UT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Valley City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Valley City ranks 190th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on fast internet and heat safety. The weaker spots are education levels, the schools, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in West Valley City
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.
West Valley City's strengths and weaknesses
West Valley City lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Fast internet is the standout, in the top 1% of cities. Heat safety and low crime follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Education levels, the schools, and thin health care access hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where West Valley City ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of cities
- TransitBetter than 86% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of cities
Where West Valley City ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Valley City
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Valley City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $93,468; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 West Valley City's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Valley City
West Valley City 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 West Valley City.
Who works in West Valley City, and how
Work in West Valley City centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Valley City
West Valley City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Valley City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Valley City, month by month
West Valley City sees roughly 128 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 West Valley City
Salt Lake City International sits about 7 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 West Valley City
Schools across West Valley City average a D, better than 7% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Calvin S. Smith SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Diamond Ridge SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Robert Frost SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bennion Jr HighC · 33% proficient
- Eisenhower Jr HighC− · 28% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson Jr HighD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Vanguard AcademyB · 48% proficient
- Taylorsville HighC− · 29% proficient
- Cyprus HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Valley City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Valley City 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 West Valley City against the other 444 cities.
Who West Valley City suits
Families
Schools land around the 7th percentile and crime safety beats 89%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in West Valley City
Is West Valley City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Valley City ranks 190th of 445 cities. It scores highest on fast internet, heat safety, and low crime, and lowest on education levels and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Valley City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $404,325. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $93,468 median income, cost of living beats 59% of cities.
Is West Valley City safe?
Yes, West Valley City is safer than 89% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Valley City?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 25. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of cities.
Is West Valley City good for families?
Schools beat 7% of cities, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $929 a month.
Is West Valley City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 59% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 100% of cities. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare West Valley City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Valley City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Valley City 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.
West Valley City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Valley City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Valley City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Valley City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Valley City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Valley City 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.
- 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.