Nearly half of Utah’s population growth came from one county

SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly half of Utah’s population growth happened in Utah County in 2024.

Utah County had the highest share of the state’s population growth at 43.4%, according to a report from the Utah County Health Department.

“That growth is happening around the whole county, from the north border to the south border. But the majority is happening in the north border,” said Tyler Plewe, deputy director for the Utah County Health Department.

He listed Vineyard, Lehi, Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs as some of the cities seeing the most growth.

“We all kind of live in these areas where we see and we feel that growth,” said Aislynn Tolman-Hill, public information officer with the Utah County Health Department. “We feel it every day in our commute and we see it with the building and the construction going on in our neighborhoods and communities. We’ve been feeling it for a while, but man, it just really does seem to be taking off.”

Fifty-eight percent of the county’s growth came from net migration, while 41% came from natural increase.

“We have a lot of things that bring people to Utah County. A lot of people will move in from out of state because of jobs that we have along Silicone Slopes. We have two universities that bring in a younger population, and then we have one of the higher birth rates in the country. So it really is a melting pot of all those different scenarios,” Plewe said.

“In 2023, our share of the population growth was around 39%, and then for 2024, we were at 43%. So you know that number … it’s continuing to climb,” Tolman-Hill said.

Salt Lake County saw the second highest share of growth at 24%, with Washington, 11.6%, Tooele, 4.9%, and Iron, 3.7%, following.

Growth causing problems for health department

The rapid growth in Utah County is causing some issues for the health department.

A main goal of the department is to make sure new residents know what services are accessible and how to contact the department for more information.

The county is also in charge of food, pool, and water inspections, which are starting to require additional hands.

“It’s a twofold approach,” Plewe said. “For one. . . We have to make sure that we have the staff that can do all the inspections that are being demanded on us. But then on the other, we need to promote our services to the new residents of the county so they know where they can find services from us for those in need.”

He continued, “It does require us on both ends to make sure that we have the funding in place to grow the staff when the services are needed and we can’t keep up with it. But also to promote what we can do.”

Utah County Health Department services can be found on its website, social media profiles and at (801) 851-3000.