{"id":8355,"date":"2023-09-24T21:18:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T21:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8355"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:49:24","slug":"utah-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/utah-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah County, Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Utah County is a county in Utah, United States, about 38 miles south of Salt Lake City. It had a
\npopulation of 659,399 at the 2020 census, an estimated 759,859 by 2025, and covers 2,144 square
\nmiles (5,550 km2) centred near 40\u00b007\u2032N 111\u00b040\u2032W.<\/p>\n

Provo is the county seat and its largest city; its postal code is 84601. The county holds 20
\ncities, 4 incorporated towns and 7 census-designated places, and it runs on Mountain Time. Its
\nFIPS code is 49049.<\/p>\n

Towns & Villages in Utah County<\/h2>\n

Utah County has 31 named places on record: 24 incorporated cities and towns and 7
\ncensus-designated places (CDPs) with no local government of their own. Utah does not use civil
\ntownships, so places here are not grouped by township. CDP stands for census designated place.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop.<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Provo<\/td>\nCity · seat<\/td>\n115,162<\/td>\n84601<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Orem<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n98,129<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lehi<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n75,907<\/td>\n84043<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eagle Mountain<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n43,623<\/td>\n84005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spanish Fork<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n42,602<\/td>\n84660<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pleasant Grove<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n37,726<\/td>\n84062<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Saratoga Springs<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n37,696<\/td>\n84045<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Springville<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n35,268<\/td>\n84663<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
American Fork<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n33,337<\/td>\n84003<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Payson<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n21,101<\/td>\n84651<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Highland<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n19,348<\/td>\n84003<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Santaquin<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n13,725<\/td>\n84655<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vineyard<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n12,543<\/td>\n84059<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mapleton<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n11,365<\/td>\n84664<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lindon<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n11,397<\/td>\n84042<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alpine<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n10,251<\/td>\n84004<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cedar Hills<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n10,019<\/td>\n84062<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Salem<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n9,298<\/td>\n84653<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elk Ridge<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n4,687<\/td>\n84651<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Woodland Hills<\/td>\nCity<\/td>\n1,521<\/td>\n84653<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Genola<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n1,548<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Goshen<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n978<\/td>\n84633<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cedar Fort<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n427<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fairfield<\/td>\nTown<\/td>\n160<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
West Mountain<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,250<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Benjamin<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,196<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lake Shore<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n802<\/td>\n84660<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Palmyra<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n443<\/td>\n84660<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elberta<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n180<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hobble Creek<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n169<\/td>\n84663<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sundance<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n113<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Two pairs are easy to confuse. Cedar Hills and Cedar Fort are different towns 20 miles apart
\n— Cedar Hills is a suburb wedged between Highland and American Fork, while Cedar Fort sits
\nin the rural Cedar Valley west of Eagle Mountain. Highland and Cedar Hills also share the ZIP
\ncode 84062–84003 split with American Fork, since the Postal Service routes their mail
\nthrough the same American Fork office rather than issuing each city its own code. Lake Shore and
\nPalmyra, both small CDPs south of Utah Lake, share the Spanish Fork ZIP 84660 for the same reason.
\nOlder lists of this county mixed in defunct mining camps such as Dividend, Ironton and Keigley
\nnear the Tintic and Santaquin ranges — none of them have residents left to count, so they are
\nnot carried in the table above.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

Utah County sits in central Utah, where the Wasatch Range drops steeply into a broad
\nlake-filled valley. Utah Lake, a shallow freshwater lake
\ncovering roughly 150 square miles, occupies the middle of the valley floor at an elevation of
\n4,487 feet. Of the county’s 2,144 square miles, 2,003 are land and 141 are water, nearly all of it
\nUtah Lake itself. Mount Timpanogos, at 11,752 feet, and the twin-peaked Mount Nebo, at 11,928 feet
\nthe county’s highest point, both rise along the eastern Wasatch crest and are visible from most of
\nthe valley floor.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake County lies to the north, Wasatch County to the east, Sanpete County to the
\nsoutheast, Juab County to the south, and Tooele County to the west across the Lake Mountains and
\nCedar Valley. Salt Lake County<\/a>, Wasatch County<\/a>, Sanpete County<\/a>, Juab County<\/a> and Tooele County<\/a> all border Utah County
\ndirectly.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

Utah County had a population of 659,399 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
\ncounty near 759,859 residents, growth driven largely by Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs and
\nVineyard on the valley’s west side. Provo and Orem are by far the two largest communities, together
\nholding roughly a third of the county’s population. Median household income runs $77,057 (2020
\nACS), below Utah’s statewide 2023 figure of $93,421, reflecting the large student populations at
\nBrigham Young University and Utah Valley University. Population density works out to roughly 329
\npeople per square mile of land, concentrated along the Interstate 15 corridor from Santaquin to
\nLehi.<\/p>\n

Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n

Education and technology dominate the county’s economy. Brigham Young University in Provo and
\nUtah Valley University in Orem together enroll more than 80,000 students and are among the
\ncounty’s largest employers. Lehi anchors the “Silicon Slopes” tech corridor, home to offices for
\nAdobe, Microsoft and Ancestry.com. Vineyard’s redevelopment of the former Geneva Steel site now
\nhosts Utah Valley University’s expanding north campus. Spanish Fork’s largest private employer,
\nMountain Country Foods, and a cluster of manufacturers around American Fork and Springville round
\nout the county’s industrial base. The county’s biggest annual event is BYU football home game
\nweekends each autumn at LaVell Edwards Stadium, which regularly draw crowds larger than most of
\nthe county’s own cities.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

The Utah Territorial Legislature organized Utah County on 31 January 1850, one of the
\nterritory’s original six counties. Its name comes from the valley, itself named for the Ute people
\nby way of the Spanish word “Yuta.” Mormon settlers had reached the valley the previous year, 1849,
\nfounding Fort Utah on the Provo River.<\/p>\n

That settlement led quickly to conflict. In February 1850, after months of rising tension over
\nland and livestock, territorial militia attacked a Timpanogos Ute encampment near Fort Utah in
\nwhat became known as the Battle at Fort Utah, killing dozens of Ute men and displacing the
\nsurvivors from the valley they had long occupied. Fort Utah was renamed Provo later that year and
\nbecame the county seat. Payson’s original name, Peteetneet Creek, honored a Ute leader who had
\ntried to keep the peace during that period.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

Interstate 15 runs the length of the county through Santaquin, Payson, Springville, Provo,
\nOrem, American Fork and Lehi. US Route 6 crosses the southern county toward Price, and US Routes
\n89 and 189 serve Provo Canyon and the county’s eastern towns.<\/p>\n