Utah County, Utah


Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's fourth-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 659,399.
Utah County is one of two counties forming the Provo-Orem metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Salt Lake City metropolitan area. In 2020, the center of population of Utah was in Utah County, in the city of Saratoga Springs.
Utah County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, ranking among the top ten counties in numerical growth. Correspondingly, Provo–Orem is among the top eight metropolitan areas by percentage growth in the country.
Utah County is one of seven counties in the United States to have the same name as its state. The other six counties are Arkansas County, Hawaii County, Idaho County, Iowa County, Oklahoma County and New York County.

History

The legislature of the State of Deseret created a county on January 31, 1850, to govern the civic affairs of Utah Valley, which by the 1850s was bustling with newly arrived settlers. The county name is derived from the valley name, which is derived from the Spanish name for the Ute Indians. The State of Deseret dissolved soon after, but the counties it had set in place continued. There is little record of any official activity conducted by the fledgling county until April 18, 1852, when a full slate of county officials was published, and recordkeeping began. The first courthouse was built in central Provo in 1866–67. It was soon outgrown and was replaced by a second courthouse. By the 1920s, this building was also cramped, and the decision was made to erect a combined city-county building, which was completed in 1926.
The county's boundaries were adjusted in 1852, 1854, 1856, 1862, 1880, and 1884. It has retained its present boundary since 1884.

Geography

Utah County terrain ranges from steep mountain ranges in the east, dropping steeply to a large lake-filled valley. Most of the comparatively level ground is dedicated to agriculture or developed uses, while most of the steep terrain is covered with arid-climate forestation. The county generally slopes to the west and north, with its highest point, at ASL. The county has an area of, of which is land and is water.
Utah Valley lies at the center of the county, lined by the mountains of the Wasatch Range on the east. Utah Lake occupies a large part of the valley. The elevation ranges from above sea level at the lake to at the peak of Mount Nebo.

Major highways

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Source:
Race or Ethnicity202020102000199019501900
White81.6%89.4%95.7%96.4%99.6%99.9%
—Non-Hispanic78.6%84.2%87.7%94.8%n/an/a
Black or African American0.7%0.5%0.4%0.1%0.02%0.02%
Hispanic or Latino 13.4%10.8%8.4%3.0%n/an/a
Asian1.6%1.4%1.2%1.0%n/an/a
Hawaiian & Pacific Islander1.0%0.8%0.6%0.5%n/an/a
Native American2.0%1.0%0.6%0.7%n/a0.01%
Multiracial9.0%2.7%1.4%n/an/an/a

The 2000 census was the first to allow residents to select multiple race categories. Prior to 2000, the census used the category 'Other Race' as a catch-all identifier. For county-level census data in 1950 and 1900, Utah counted all non-White and non-Black residents using this category. 'Other races' formed 1.4% of Utah County's population in 1990, 0.43% in 1950, and 0.07% in 1900.

2020 census

According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 659,399 people in Utah County with a population density of 329.0 people per square mile. Among non-Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 518,460 White, 4,110 African American, 2,533 Native American, 10,111 Asian, 6,541 Pacific Islander, 2,421 from other races, and 26,692 from two or more races. 88,531 people were Hispanic or Latino.
There were 330,884 males and 328,515 females, and the population distribution by age was 216,133 under the age of 18, 389,673 from 18 to 64, and 53,593 who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 25.9 years.
There were 184,558 households in Utah County with an average size of 3.57 of which 148,476 were families and 36,082 were non-families. Among all families, 124,424 were married couples, 8,394 were male householders with no spouse, and 15,658 were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 23,748 were a single person living alone and 12,334 were two or more people living together. 88,011 of all households had children under the age of 18. 124,353 of households were owner-occupied while 60,205 were renter-occupied.
The median income for a Utah County household was $77,057 and the median family income was $83,938, with a per-capita income of $27,365. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $60,356 and for females $37,391. 10.0% of the population and 6.9% of families were below the poverty line.
In terms of education attainment, out of the 310,161 people in Utah County 25 years or older, 14,999 had not completed high school, 51,916 had a high school diploma or equivalency, 115,689 had some college or associate degree, 88,312 had a bachelor's degree, and 39,245 had a graduate or professional degree.

Ancestry

Due to respondents reporting multiple ethnicities, percentages may add up to greater than 100%.

Religion

Government

The government is a three-member elected county commission elected at-large. Other elected officials include the county sheriff, the county clerk, county recorder, county assessor, county surveyor, county treasurer, and the county attorney. The current county attorney is Jeff Gray.
In 2020, Utah County voters rejected Proposition 9, which would have changed the county's government to a five-member elected county council with an elected county mayor.
The first sheriff of the county was John T. Willis, who was succeeded by William Madison Wall. Alexander Williams served during John Cradlebaugh's court in 1859. He was succeeded by Eli Whipple, who resigned in 1861 and was replaced by Russell Kelly. In 2020, Sheriff Mike Smith publicly stated he would not enforce COVID-19 face mask mandates.
The Utah County Fire Department provides emergency response to all unincorporated areas within Utah County and works with all the incorporated cities within the county plus all Utah state and federal lands. The department is primarily a wildland fires response and urban interspace service with some structure fire and HAZMAT abatement capability.

Politics

Utah County has been referred to as "the most Republican county in the most Republican state in the United States". It has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate nine times since statehood, but has not done so since 1964.
In the 1992 presidential election, George H. W. Bush received the most votes and Bill Clinton was third in votes received. In the 2004 presidential election, 85.99% voted for George W. Bush. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the county voted for John McCain by a 58.9% margin over Barack Obama, compared to McCain winning by 28.1% statewide. Eight other Utah counties voted more strongly in favor of McCain. In the 2012 election, Mitt Romney received 88.32% of the vote. In 2016, it gave a slim majority of the vote to Donald Trump, and nearly 30% of the vote to independent candidate Evan McMullin, who outperformed Hillary Clinton in the county. This was McMullin's largest share of the vote in any county in Utah and his second best nationwide after Madison County, Idaho. In 2020, Democratic candidate Joe Biden received over 75,000 votes, easily a record for the party - no Democratic candidate had previously received more than 30,000 votes in the county - but it amounted to barely a quarter of the county vote as Trump received two-thirds of the total.
Until 2013, Utah County was represented entirely by one congressional district. Currently, the county is split between two congressional districts. Most of the county's population is in the 3rd District, represented by Republican Mike Kennedy, former Provo Mayor. Much of the county's area however, including Utah Lake, resides in the 4th District currently represented by Republican Burgess Owens.
The county's Republican bent runs right through state and local politics. All five state senators representing the county, as well as all 14 state representatives, are Republicans.

Social issues

Utah County saw high rates of opioid and other prescription drug addiction from the mid-2000s onwards, foreshadowing the national opioid crisis. The 2008 documentary Happy Valley examined the problem.
Giving USA, which reports on charitable giving in the US, named Utah County as one of the three most generous counties in philanthropic donations, alongside San Juan County, Utah and Madison County, Idaho.
In 2019, one in eight people and one in six children in the county did not have sufficient food.