Wasatch Front accounted for 73% of Utah’s growth between 2023 and 2024
Communities in the four Wasatch Front counties — Salt Lake, Utah, Davis and Weber — added 36,730 new residents between 2023 and 2024, accounting for 72.9 percent of the state’s growth, according to estimates released recently by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and Utah Population Committee (UPC).
The estimates detail both population and housing unit growth for the incorporated communities and census tracts in the state’s four most populous counties.
“Ten communities along the Wasatch Front welcomed half of all new Utahns between 2023 and 2024,” said Eric Albers, senior policy analyst at the Gardner Institute. “While the Wasatch Front continues to experience high growth, 29 communities lost population in 2024, though most declines were small.”
The 10 communities referred to by Albers — eight of which are in Utah County — combined to add over 26,000 new residents, he said.
For three consecutive years, Salt Lake City has led the state in population growth. The city added 4,450 residents between 2023 and 2024. One in five new housing units along the Wasatch Front was added in Salt Lake City. The city added 3,696 new housing units between 2023 and 2024, accounting for 20.6 percent of Wasatch Front housing unit growth
Despite the Utah County dominance, the fastest-growing community in the state was Magna, with an 8 percent increase. This growth was followed closely by Saratoga Springs (7.9 percent) and Highland (7.8 percent), both in Utah County.
Between 2023 and 2024, the Wasatch Front added 17,970 new housing units, down from a peak of 28,068 new units added in 2022.
Salt Lake County drove housing growth along the Wasatch Front, adding 9,675 units, while Utah County added 5,992, Davis County added 1,175 and Weber County added 1,128.
In the 2025 general session, the Utah Legislature passed HB379, which modified the state code to have locally produced population estimates become the standard source for most applications. These estimates are produced by the Gardner Institute under guidance from the Utah Population Committee.
The full population estimate study can be accessed through the Gardner institute website at gardner.utah.edu.