This site uses analytics to understand how visitors use it. No tracking happens unless you accept.

Skip to main content
UPUtah Property Playbook

Market Data

Utah Housing Market Data

Home prices, inflation, and the broader rate environment, sourced directly from FHFA, BLS, and the Federal Reserve Board — not a calculator, not a prediction, and not a substitute for what a specific home is actually worth.

Direct answer: home prices, inflation, and borrowing conditions are shown below as plain, sourced figures — Utah and Salt Lake-area numbers first, national figures for context. Nothing here predicts where prices or rates are headed next.

A dated snapshot of six Utah indicators follows — home prices, the broader rate environment, household income, employment, population, and building permits — each pulled from its original federal source below. These sources publish on different schedules (some monthly, some annual), so each figure shows its own observation date rather than a single page-wide "last updated" stamp.

Utah market at a glance

Home Prices

2.58%

As of Jun 2026

Up 2.58% vs. 1 year ago

Utah home prices has moved more slowly over the past year than its average pace over the last 10 years.

Rate Environment

3.88%

As of Oct 2026

Down 0.22 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

The federal funds rate has fallen over the past year.

Household Income

$96,398

As of Dec 2024

Up 27.33% since 5 years ago

Utah household income has moved at about the same pace over the last 5 years as its average pace over the last 10 years.

Unemployment Rate

3.80%

As of Aug 2026

No change vs. 1 year ago

Utah's unemployment rate has held steady over the past year.

This figure is older than its source's normal release schedule.

Population

3,417,734

As of Jul 2023

Up 1.08% vs. 1 year ago

Utah's population has grown over the past year.

This figure is older than its source's normal release schedule.

Building Permits

26,775

As of Dec 2025

Up 12.02% vs. 1 year ago

Utah building-permit activity has moved faster over the past year than its average pace over the last 10 years.

Reading the Utah market

What's most relevant right now.

A closer look at how a few of these figures relate to each other — observations from the data above, not predictions. Each note states what the two figures actually show, what that may suggest, and (where the comparison has a real methodological limit) what it doesn't establish. The full detail behind each one, including every source and date, is in its own section further down this page.

  • Home prices vs. income — Utah

    Home prices grew faster than household income over this window, which may indicate affordability pressure is increasing for buyers who rely on income growth alone to keep pace.

    Compared: HPI data from 2021–2026 and income data from 2020–2024.

  • Population vs. building permits

    Permitted-housing activity has been growing faster than population, which may indicate the pipeline of future supply is expanding faster than demand from population growth alone.

    Population is a point-in-time estimate (a stock); building permits are one year's authorized construction (a flow). This comparison is directional context, not a matched measurement of supply against demand.

    Compared: population as of 2023 vs. 2022; permits authorized in 2025 vs. 2024.

  • Income vs. inflation — Utah

    Household income grew faster than consumer prices over this period, which may indicate real (inflation-adjusted) purchasing power increased for the median household — aside from housing-specific costs not fully captured in the headline CPI.

    Compared: 2019 to 2024.

Decision context

What does this mean for buyers, sellers, and investors?

These are the same supply, demand, and affordability signals shown in detail further down this page, organized by who's asking. None of this is a recommendation to buy, sell, wait, or hold — every buyer, seller, and investor situation depends on facts this page doesn't know (price, terms, timeline, and personal finances).

For buyers

  • The modeled mortgage payment took 35.19% of median household income in 2024 — a financing-cost headwind independent of supply and demand. See the evidence →

For sellers

  • The modeled mortgage payment took 35.19% of median household income in 2024, which can limit buyer purchasing power. See the evidence →

For investors

  • Renter households have grown by more than their own sampling error while the rental vacancy rate has fallen. See the evidence →

Context: 34.44% of units permitted in 2025were in 5+-unit structures — a structural proxy for rental-oriented supply, not a direct rental-unit count (BPS doesn't report tenure).

“+” marks a factor that may work in this group's favor; “−” marks a headwind. Neither symbol is a prediction, a score, or a recommendation — see the sections further down this page for the full data and methodology behind each one.

Home prices

What is happening with home prices?

The FHFA House Price Index tracks price change using repeated sales and refinance appraisals of the same homes — a percentage-change measure, not a dollar value. It's the single clearest signal of market direction on this page: rising or falling faster than history is the first thing a seller, buyer, or investor typically wants to know. Utah and its four largest metros — including St. George, one of Utah's fastest-growing housing markets — are shown first; the national figure provides context.

Utah

+2.58%

1-year change in the FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), Q2 2026

Up 34.33% since 5 years agoUp 120.95% since 10 years ago

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — Utah. View source.

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT

+2.41%

1-year change in the FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), Q2 2026

Up 33.36% since 5 years agoUp 118.74% since 10 years ago

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT. View source.

Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT

+3.50%

1-year change in the FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), Q2 2026

Up 34.19% since 5 years agoUp 119.04% since 10 years ago

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT. View source.

Ogden, UT

+3.68%

1-year change in the FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), Q2 2026

Up 33.17% since 5 years agoUp 124.76% since 10 years ago

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — Ogden, UT. View source.

St. George, UT

-0.13%

1-year change in the FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), Q2 2026

Up 29.57% since 5 years agoUp 114.48% since 10 years ago

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — St. George, UT. View source.

United States

+3.03%

1-year change in the FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), Q2 2026

Up 41.29% since 5 years agoUp 93.33% since 10 years ago

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — United States. View source.

Utah home-price appreciation, year by year

Each year's figure compares that year's closing (fourth-quarter) FHFA index value with the same quarter one year earlier — the same "four-quarter change" convention FHFA itself uses in its own quarterly news releases. The current year is still in progress, so it's shown separately as a year-over-year reading for the latest published quarter, never presented as though a full calendar year had already played out.

Latest year-over-year

+2.58%

Q2 2026

5-year annualized

+6.08%/yr

CAGR, not an average of annual %

10-year annualized

+8.25%/yr

CAGR, not an average of annual %

30-year annualized

+4.88%/yr

CAGR, not an average of annual %

30-year total

+317.76%

Cumulative, not annualized

Utah home-price appreciation, 2017 through 2026 Q2 YoY. Most recent: +2.6% (partial year, latest published quarter compared with the same quarter one year earlier).

Annual change (%)

Tap a bar to see the exact appreciation and year.

Appreciation (completed years) Latest partial year (YoY, not yet a full calendar year)
View this range as a table
Annual home-price appreciation — Utah, percent change, sourced from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index
YearAppreciation
2026 Q2 YoY(partial year)+2.6%
2025+2.9%
2024+4.8%
2023+1.4%
2022+8.3%
2021+27.6%
2020+9.3%
2019+7.0%
2018+9.1%
2017+9.1%

Utah. Annual home-price appreciation, same quarter compared with one year earlier (completed years use the fourth quarter; the latest year uses the most recently published quarter, flagged above). Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index. View source.

Historical context (29 completed years)
  • Strongest year: 2021, +27.58%
  • Weakest year: 2009, -9.68%
  • Years with a price decline: 5
  • Years above 10% appreciation: 3
  • Long-run median annual appreciation: +4.87%

How Utah compares with its metro areas

Each period is only shown where FHFA's published history actually supports it — no figure here is estimated or filled in.

FHFA home-price appreciation comparison across Utah and its metro areas — 1-year change, 5/10/20/30-year annualized (CAGR) growth, and 30-year total change.
Market1-year5-year annualized10-year annualized30-year annualized30-year total
Utah+2.6%+6.1%+8.3%+4.9%+317.8%
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT+2.4%+5.9%+8.1%+5.1%+339.3%
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT+3.5%+6.1%+8.2%+4.7%+301.7%
Ogden, UT+3.7%+5.9%+8.4%+4.8%+302.4%
St. George, UT-0.1%+5.3%+7.9%+4.3%+254.8%
Raw FHFA index values (methodology & source transparency)

The chart above shows appreciation — percentage change. The raw index itself (e.g. a value like 858.12) has no dollar meaning on its own; it's only meaningful as a ratio between two points in time, which is exactly what the appreciation figures above already compute. It's shown here for full transparency into the underlying source data.

From Q4 2016 to Q2 2026, Utah rose from 405.07 to 864.92.

Index value (FHFA HPI)

Tap the chart to see the exact value and date.

View this data as a table
Utah home-price index — Utah, FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), not seasonally adjusted, sourced from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — Utah
PeriodFHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), not seasonally adjusted
Q2 2026864.92
Q1 2026857.97
Q4 2025852.11
Q3 2025846.07
Q2 2025843.16
Q1 2025832.89
Q4 2024827.74
Q3 2024824.99
Q2 2024817.66
Q1 2024798.42
Q4 2023789.80
Q3 2023794.96
Q2 2023789.23
Q1 2023773.75
Q4 2022778.73
Q3 2022805.41
Q2 2022810.82
Q1 2022753.50
Q4 2021719.32
Q3 2021693.51
Q2 2021643.89
Q1 2021587.01
Q4 2020563.84
Q3 2020544.87
Q2 2020532.01
Q1 2020522.55
Q4 2019515.76
Q3 2019508.27
Q2 2019500.13
Q1 2019490.14
Q4 2018481.88
Q3 2018475.71
Q2 2018466.02
Q1 2018450.92
Q4 2017441.73
Q3 2017435.97
Q2 2017426.01
Q1 2017412.22
Q4 2016405.07

Utah. FHFA House Price Index (All-Transactions), not seasonally adjusted. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), House Price Index — Utah. View source.

These figures describe the Utah market broadly — they don't tell an individual homeowner what a specific home is worth.

See What These Trends Could Mean for Your Home's Value

Rate environment

What is happening with the broader rate environment?

The federal funds rate, the bank prime rate, and Treasury yields don't set mortgage rates directly — they shape the broader borrowing and bond-market environment mortgage rates move within. For an actual national average mortgage rate, see the Mortgage Rate Center.

Federal Funds Effective Rate

3.88%

As of October 15, 2026

Up 0.25 percentage points vs. 1 month agoDown 0.22 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

Source: Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates — Federal Funds Effective Rate. View source.

Bank Prime Loan Rate

7.00%

As of October 13, 2026

The most recent business day's figure hasn't posted yet — this is still real data.
Up 0.25 percentage points vs. 1 month agoDown 0.25 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

Source: Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates — Bank Prime Loan Rate. View source.

2-Year Treasury

4.77%

As of October 15, 2026

Up 0.10 percentage points vs. 1 month agoUp 1.27 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

Source: Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates — 2-Year Treasury. View source.

5-Year Treasury

4.91%

As of October 15, 2026

Up 0.08 percentage points vs. 1 month agoUp 1.28 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

Source: Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates — 5-Year Treasury. View source.

10-Year Treasury

5.10%

As of October 15, 2026

Up 0.10 percentage points vs. 1 month agoUp 1.05 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

Source: Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates — 10-Year Treasury. View source.

30-Year Treasury

5.43%

As of October 15, 2026

Up 0.07 percentage points vs. 1 month agoUp 0.79 percentage points vs. 1 year ago

Source: Federal Reserve Board, H.15 Selected Interest Rates — 30-Year Treasury. View source.

Weighing whether to move away from a current mortgage rate? The Stay vs. Move tool walks through the real cost of trading a current rate for today's rate environment.

How do prices compare in real terms? (purchasing power)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) measures the change in prices for a broad basket of goods and services. It matters here because it's the baseline every other number on this page gets compared against: a home-price gain or an income increase that's smaller than inflation is a loss in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, even though the raw dollar figure went up. Utah has no statewide CPI series, and neither does St. George — the Salt Lake City metro area is the closest genuinely local figure BLS publishes for any Utah geography.

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT inflation

+3.72%

Year-over-year CPI-U inflation, September 2026

Up 39.10% cumulative, 9 years

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT. View source.

United States inflation

+3.74%

Year-over-year CPI-U inflation, September 2026

Up 36.51% cumulative, 9 years

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index — United States. View source.

Salt Lake City-area inflation trend

From November 2017 to September 2026, Salt Lake City-Murray, UT rose from 259.14 to 358.73.

Index value (CPI-U)

Tap the chart to see the exact value and date.

View this data as a table
Salt Lake City-area CPI-U, all items — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT, CPI-U index, all items, not seasonally adjusted, sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
PeriodCPI-U index, all items, not seasonally adjusted
September 2026358.73
August 2026356.99
July 2026355.31
June 2026354.33
May 2026355.34
April 2026355.17
March 2026352.22
February 2026348.36
January 2026347.69
December 2025344.60
November 2025345.65
September 2025345.87
August 2025344.50
July 2025343.62
June 2025343.02
May 2025343.01
April 2025342.57
March 2025340.65
February 2025338.44
January 2025337.51
December 2024334.53
November 2024333.72
October 2024334.24
September 2024334.12
August 2024333.36
July 2024332.93
June 2024332.36
May 2024332.96
April 2024332.57
March 2024330.67
February 2024328.23
January 2024326.64
December 2023323.46
November 2023323.34
October 2023324.55
September 2023324.98
August 2023324.05
July 2023321.93
June 2023322.06
May 2023320.51
April 2023320.09
March 2023317.87
February 2023317.57
January 2023318.59
December 2022312.60
November 2022314.63
October 2022317.01
September 2022315.03
August 2022313.61
July 2022313.42
June 2022314.07
May 2022310.65
April 2022308.30
March 2022306.68
February 2022302.16
January 2022301.21
December 2021297.93
November 2021296.79
October 2021294.96
September 2021292.21
August 2021291.33
July 2021290.89
June 2021289.22
May 2021287.62
April 2021285.81
March 2021282.65
February 2021281.35
January 2021280.18
December 2020279.56
November 2020280.10
October 2020279.95
September 2020279.37
August 2020280.12
July 2020279.90
June 2020278.12
May 2020276.84
April 2020275.85
March 2020276.59
February 2020278.66
January 2020277.76
December 2019275.55
November 2019277.24
October 2019278.08
September 2019276.05
August 2019274.58
July 2019274.68
June 2019274.38
May 2019274.48
April 2019273.95
March 2019271.31
February 2019269.61
January 2019269.47
December 2018267.63
November 2018268.56
October 2018269.48
September 2018268.03
August 2018266.67
July 2018266.01
June 2018265.52
May 2018266.15
April 2018265.10
March 2018264.16
February 2018263.01
January 2018261.24
December 2017259.22
November 2017259.14

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT. CPI-U index, all items, not seasonally adjusted. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT. View source.

This chart shows 9 years, not 10 like the Utah home-price chart above — a BLS API limit on how far back an unregistered request can reach, not a data gap. See the FAQ below.

Nominal vs. real home-price change

Real (inflation-adjusted) change divides home-price growth by consumer-price growth over the same window — a way to see whether home prices grew faster or slower than the cost of everything else, not a claim about a specific home's value.

United States

The nominal U.S. home-price index is 3.0% above its level from Q2 2025.

The real, inflation-adjusted U.S. home-price index is 0.5% below its level from Q2 2025, after accounting for CPI inflation.

Utah

The nominal Utah home-price index is 2.6% above its level from Q2 2025.

The real Utah home-price index is 0.7% below its level from Q2 2025, after accounting for Salt Lake-area CPI inflation.

Utah home-price change compared with Salt Lake City-Murray, UT consumer inflation (state HPI vs. metro CPI — Utah has no statewide CPI series).

Provo-Orem-Lehi and Ogden aren't shown here — BLS doesn't publish a CPI series for either metro, and pairing their home prices against a different metro's inflation figure would be a worse mismatch than not showing a real-change figure at all.

Income & affordability

What is happening with household income?

Median household income, from the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) — the only source that publishes a genuinely current-year, county-level income estimate every year. Income growth is the denominator behind every affordability question on this page: a home-price gain matters differently to a buyer depending on whether their own income grew faster or slower than that gain. Home prices don't have a matching dollar figure to divide by (FHFA's index measures relative change, not a price), so instead of a fabricated price-to-income ratio, the section below shows home-price growth and income growth over the same window side by side.

Utah

$96,398

Median household income (SAIPE), 2024

Up 27.33% since 5 years agoUp 58.18% since 10 years ago

$60,943 → $96,398 (+$35,455, +58.18%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) — Utah. View source.

United States

$81,604

Median household income (SAIPE), 2024

Up 24.18% since 5 years agoUp 52.08% since 10 years ago

$53,657 → $81,604 (+$27,947, +52.08%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) — United States. View source.

Utah household income trend

From 2014 to 2024, Utah rose from $60,943 to $96,398.

Dollars ($)

Tap the chart to see the exact value and date.

View this data as a table
Utah median household income — Utah, Median household income (SAIPE), sourced from U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) — Utah
PeriodMedian household income (SAIPE)
2024$96,398
2023$93,030
2022$88,531
2021$79,449
2020$77,785
2019$75,705
2018$71,381
2017$68,395
2016$65,931
2015$62,961
2014$60,943

Utah. Median household income (SAIPE). Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) — Utah. View source.

Home prices vs. household income, year by year

Did home prices and household income grow at similar rates each year, or did one outpace the other? Both series are paired at the exact same calendar year — FHFA's fourth-quarter home-price change and SAIPE's annual income change for that identical year, never a mismatched pairing.

Utah home prices and household income, annual percent change, 2015 through 2024.

Annual change (%)

Tap the chart to see exact values and the date.

Home-price appreciation Household-income growth
View this data as a table
Utah home-price appreciation vs. household-income growth — Utah, Annual percent change, FHFA home-price appreciation vs. SAIPE household-income growth, sourced from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and U.S. Census Bureau (SAIPE)
YearHome-price appreciationHousehold-income growth
2024+4.80%+3.62%
2023+1.42%+5.08%
2022+8.26%+11.43%
2021+27.58%+2.14%
2020+9.32%+2.75%
2019+7.03%+6.06%
2018+9.09%+4.37%
2017+9.05%+3.74%
2016+7.37%+4.72%
2015+6.12%+3.31%

Utah. Annual percent change, FHFA home-price appreciation vs. SAIPE household-income growth. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and U.S. Census Bureau (SAIPE).

In 2024, Utah home prices grew faster than household income — Up 1.18 percentage points (+4.80% home-price appreciation vs. +3.62% income growth)

Utah home-price growth vs. household-income growth, annualized, by window
WindowHome-price annualizedIncome annualizedGap (points/year)
5-year+6.08%/yr+4.38%/yr+1.70%/yr
10-year+8.25%/yr+4.35%/yr+3.90%/yr

This is a growth-rate comparison, not an affordability index — mortgage rates, taxes, and insurance also shape what a buyer can actually afford.

How far have prices and income diverged?

Both lines below start at 100 in 2016. A value of 200 means that measure has doubled since then. This is a UPP-normalized comparison built for this chart — not FHFA's own raw index scale, which uses a different, unrelated base period.

Utah home prices and household income since 2016, both normalized to 100 at the start.

Index (2016 = 100)

Tap the chart to see exact values and the date.

Home prices (indexed) Household income (indexed)
View this data as a table
Cumulative Utah home-price growth vs. household-income growth — Utah, Cumulative growth, indexed to 100 in 2016, sourced from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and U.S. Census Bureau (SAIPE), normalized by UtahPropertyPlaybook.com
YearHome prices (indexed)Household income (indexed)
2025210.36Not available
2024204.34146.21
2023194.98141.10
2022192.25134.28
2021177.58120.50
2020139.20117.98
2019127.33114.82
2018118.96108.27
2017109.05103.74
2016100.00100.00

Utah. Cumulative growth, indexed to 100 in 2016. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and U.S. Census Bureau (SAIPE), normalized by UtahPropertyPlaybook.com.

Home-price growth vs. income growth (5-year window)

United States

The U.S. home-price index is 41.3% above its level from Q2 2021.

U.S. median household income is 21.2% above its level from 2020.

Utah

The Utah home-price index is 34.3% above its level from Q2 2021.

Utah median household income is 23.9% above its level from 2020.

These are two separate growth rates shown together, not a combined ratio — FHFA's index has no dollar value to divide income by.

Reading it together — United States

Home prices grew faster than household income over this window, which may indicate affordability pressure is increasing for buyers who rely on income growth alone to keep pace.

Compared: HPI data from 2021–2026 and income data from 2020–2024.

Reading it together — Utah

Home prices grew faster than household income over this window, which may indicate affordability pressure is increasing for buyers who rely on income growth alone to keep pace.

Compared: HPI data from 2021–2026 and income data from 2020–2024.

Income vs. inflation — Utah

Household income grew faster than consumer prices over this period, which may indicate real (inflation-adjusted) purchasing power increased for the median household — aside from housing-specific costs not fully captured in the headline CPI.

Compared: 2019 to 2024.

Home values in dollars

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) asks owners what their home would sell for — a median owner-occupied home value, in dollars. This is a different measure from the FHFA appreciation figures above (an index of price change, with no dollar value of its own) and from an actual sale price or listing price. It reflects owners' own estimates, surveyed and reported by the Census Bureau.

Utah median owner-occupied home value

$489,400

Median value of owner-occupied homes (ACS 5-Year Estimates), vintage ending 2024 — the median reported value, not a sale price

Up 75.35% since 5 years agoUp 130.31% since 10 years agoUp 135.18% since 15 years ago

$208,100 → $489,400 (+$281,300, +135.18%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates — Utah. View source.

United States median owner-occupied home value

$332,700

Median value of owner-occupied homes (ACS 5-Year Estimates), vintage ending 2024 — the median reported value, not a sale price

Up 52.97% since 5 years agoUp 89.36% since 10 years agoUp 79.45% since 15 years ago

$185,400 → $332,700 (+$147,300, +79.45%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates — United States. View source.

Home value relative to household income

Utah home value-to-income ratio

5.08x

Median owner-occupied home value ($489,400, 2024) ÷ median household income ($96,398, 2024)

This is a home-value-to-income ratio using Census figures — not any official, third-party affordability benchmark, which would use its own separate methodology.

Historical home value-to-income ratio
Utah median owner-occupied home value relative to median household income, by year
YearRatio
20245.08x
20193.69x
20143.49x

How much of household income goes toward the mortgage payment?

This estimates the share of median household income needed for principal and interest on 80% of Utah's median owner-occupied home value — a different question from the value-to-income ratio above, because mortgage rates change what the same home price actually costs a buyer month to month. It is a modeled estimate, not a measurement of what any real household actually spends, not an official, third-party affordability benchmark, not a debt-to-income calculation used for loan qualifying, and not a total housing-cost figure.

In 2024, that modeled payment came to 35.19% of median household income — about $35.19 of every $100 of median household income going toward the modeled principal-and-interest payment, under the assumptions below.

Fixed assumptions used for every year: 20% down payment, 80% loan-to-value, a 30-year fixed loan amortized over 360 monthly payments, principal and interest only. This excludes mortgage insurance, property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, and closing costs — a real monthly housing payment includes more than what's modeled here.

From 2005 to 2024, Utah rose from 20.12% to 35.19%.

Share of household income (%)

Tap the chart to see the exact value and date.

View this data as a table
Utah mortgage payment burden — Utah, Estimated mortgage P&I as a share of median household income, sourced from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) MIRS / MIRS Transition Index, and U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 1-Year)
PeriodEstimated mortgage P&I as a share of median household income
202435.19%
202334.33%
202227.79%
202121.15%
201919.35%
201820.93%
201718.62%
201616.91%
201517.03%
201417.49%
201316.31%
201215.77%
201118.60%
201020.17%
200921.20%
200824.32%
200723.98%
200622.57%
200520.12%

Utah. Estimated mortgage P&I as a share of median household income. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) MIRS / MIRS Transition Index, and U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 1-Year).

2020 is missing from this chart, not zero — the Census Bureau never released a standard ACS 1-year estimate for 2020, so no valid home value/income pairing exists for that year. It is a genuine gap, not a measured value.

How the modeled mortgage rate is calculated

FHFA discontinued its Monthly Interest Rate Survey in 2019. Through 2018, this model uses average 30-year fixed contract rates calculated from FHFA MIRS purchase-loan microdata. Beginning in 2019, it uses FHFA's MIRS Transition Index — a rate FHFA itself describes as a proxy built from Freddie Mac's PMMS survey, not a new-purchase rate survey of its own. The methodology therefore changes in 2019: that year's modeled rate uses June–December Transition Index observations only (the January–May months still belonged to the discontinued survey), so 2019 is a partial-transition-year estimate, not a full calendar year under one consistent method.

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Monthly Interest Rate Survey / MIRS Transition Index. View source. This product uses FHFA Data but is neither endorsed nor certified by FHFA. UtahPropertyPlaybook.com performs the annual aggregation, mortgage-payment calculation, and household-income comparison shown here — FHFA does not produce or endorse this affordability calculation.

Latest comparable annual data: 2024 — the most recent year with a home value, household income, and mortgage rate all available from the same calendar year. Current mortgage-rate context is available separately on the Mortgage Rate Center, which is not mixed into this historical figure.

2024 payment burden

35.19%

Modeled monthly P&I of $2,835 on a $436,160 loan at 6.77%

2019 payment burden

19.35%

5 years earlier

2014 payment burden

17.49%

10 years earlier

Lowest, 2005–2024

15.77%

2012

Highest, 2005–2024

35.19%

2024

Median, 2005–2024

20.17%

2005–2024

What did this look like before ultra-low mortgage rates?

Mortgage rates were substantially higher during parts of the 1990s, but a higher rate alone doesn't tell us whether housing was more or less affordable — home values and household income matter too. The two benchmark years below model the same 20% down, 30-year fixed, principal-and-interest-only payment used throughout this section, using the U.S. Census Bureau's decennial Census (not the annual American Community Survey the chart above uses) and FHFA's published historical mortgage-rate table.

Why these historical figures aren't plotted on the same line as the chart above

1990 and 2000 are benchmark observations, not an annual series.No authoritative annual Utah home-value series exists at the state level for 1990–2004, so this page does not draw a continuous line connecting 1990, 2000, and 2005 — that would imply a measured trend between years that were never actually observed. The 1990/2000 home-value figures also use a narrower Census definition (single-family homes on less than 10 acres, without a business or medical office on the property) than the broader “all owner-occupied housing units” definition the 2005–2024ACS series above uses — a second reason these years aren't plotted on the same line as the chart above.

1990 Census benchmark

19.78%

of median household income (1989 income: $29,470) modeled toward principal and interest on 80% of the 1990 median owner-occupied home value ($68,900) at a 10.05% mortgage rate.

Modeled monthly P&I: $486 on a $55,120 loan. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Census of Housing Tables — Home Values (decennial Census, unadjusted dollars); U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables: States, Table S1 (decennial Census, current/nominal dollars); Federal Housing Finance Agency, Table 26 (Terms on Conventional Single Family Mortgages, Fixed-Rate 30-Year and 15-Year Nonjumbo Loans) — 30-year term rows, annual average of the 12 published monthly observations.

2000 Census benchmark

22.81%

of median household income (1999 income: $45,726) modeled toward principal and interest on 80% of the 2000 median owner-occupied home value ($146,100) at a 8.14% mortgage rate.

Modeled monthly P&I: $869 on a $116,880 loan. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Census of Housing Tables — Home Values (decennial Census, unadjusted dollars); U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables: States, Table S1 (decennial Census, current/nominal dollars); Federal Housing Finance Agency, Table 26 (Terms on Conventional Single Family Mortgages, Fixed-Rate 30-Year and 15-Year Nonjumbo Loans) — 30-year term rows, annual average of the 12 published monthly observations.

See the 5-year breakdown: what changed, 2019–2024
What changed in the modeled mortgage payment burden, 2019 to 2024
20192024
Home value$330,300 → $545,200 (Up 65.06% )
Household income$75,780 → $96,658 (Up 27.55% )
Mortgage rate (modeled)3.74% → 6.77% (Up 3.03 percentage points )
Modeled monthly P&I$1,222 → $2,835 (Up 131.93% )
Payment burden19.35% → 35.19% (Up 15.84 percentage points )

Over this window, the modeled home value rose, household income rose, and the mortgage rate rose. Together, this is consistent with a higher modeled payment as a share of household income over this window.

See the 10-year breakdown: what changed, 2014–2024
What changed in the modeled mortgage payment burden, 2014 to 2024
20142024
Home value$223,200 → $545,200 (Up 144.27% )
Household income$60,922 → $96,658 (Up 58.66% )
Mortgage rate (modeled)4.34% → 6.77% (Up 2.43 percentage points )
Modeled monthly P&I$888 → $2,835 (Up 219.28% )
Payment burden17.49% → 35.19% (Up 17.70 percentage points )

Over this window, the modeled home value rose, household income rose, and the mortgage rate rose. Together, this is consistent with a higher modeled payment as a share of household income over this window.

Value-to-income vs. payment-to-income

The home-value-to-income ratio above answers “how expensive are home values relative to household income?” The payment burden here answers a different question: “how much of household income would the modeled mortgage principal-and-interest payment consume?” These can move in different directions in the same period, because interest rates change the second answer without changing the first.

General considerations

General, evergreen guidance below — unlike the data-driven readings in What This Means, this doesn't change based on current data.

For buying: Mortgage rates are only one part of affordability. Buying at a higher rate can still have different overall economics than waiting, depending on price, income, seller concessions, competition for the home, how long you plan to hold it, and how prices move while you wait. Waiting for a lower rate does not automatically guarantee a lower future payment if home prices also change in the meantime.

Compare Buying Now vs. Waiting

For selling: A higher modeled payment burden can reduce buyer purchasing power, which may contribute to slower appreciation, greater price sensitivity, or weaker buyer competition. It does not, on its own, predict a specific direction for prices — many other factors shape a specific local market.

Rates, prices, and income together determine what a specific buyer can actually afford — this page shows the market conditions, not a personal number.

See What Today's Rates Mean for Your Buying Power

Jobs & population

Employment

What is happening with employment?

A local job market that's adding workers faster than housing supply is being built is one of the more reliable leading signals of future demand pressure — and a slowing one can be an early sign of softening demand before it shows up in home prices. Unemployment rates below are not seasonally adjusted for any geography, including the U.S. figure, so they can be compared consistently across Utah, its metros (including St. George), and the nation.

Utah unemployment

3.80%

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
No change vs. 1 year agoUp 1.00 percentage points vs. 5 years agoUp 0.40 percentage points vs. 9 years ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Utah. View source.

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT unemployment

3.70%

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
Down 0.20 percentage points vs. 1 year agoUp 0.80 percentage points vs. 5 years agoUp 0.40 percentage points vs. 9 years ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT. View source.

Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT unemployment

4.10%

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
Up 0.10 percentage points vs. 1 year agoUp 1.50 percentage points vs. 5 years agoUp 1.00 percentage points vs. 9 years ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT. View source.

Ogden, UT unemployment

3.60%

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
No change vs. 1 year agoUp 0.90 percentage points vs. 5 years agoUp 0.30 percentage points vs. 9 years ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Ogden, UT. View source.

St. George, UT unemployment

3.80%

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
No change vs. 1 year agoUp 0.70 percentage points vs. 5 years agoUp 0.20 percentage points vs. 9 years ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — St. George, UT. View source.

United States unemployment

4.00%

Not seasonally adjusted, September 2026

Down 0.30 percentage points vs. 1 year agoDown 0.60 percentage points vs. 5 years agoDown 0.10 percentage points vs. 9 years ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — United States. View source.

Total nonfarm employment — Utah

1,788,800 jobs

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
Up 1.17% vs. 1 year agoUp 10.52% since 5 years agoUp 22.19% since 9 years ago

1,618,500 → 1,788,800 (+170,300 jobs, +10.52%)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Current Employment Statistics — Total nonfarm employment — Utah. View source.

Construction employment — Utah

148,600 jobs

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
Up 2.62% vs. 1 year agoUp 17.94% since 5 years agoUp 45.54% since 9 years ago

126,000 → 148,600 (+22,600 jobs, +17.94%)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Current Employment Statistics — Construction employment — Utah. View source.

Civilian labor force — Utah

1,839,706 people

Not seasonally adjusted, August 2026

The most recent release is a bit later than BLS's normal monthly schedule — this is still real data.
Up 0.18% vs. 1 year agoUp 8.76% since 5 years agoUp 17.86% since 9 years ago

1,691,522 → 1,839,706 (+148,184 people, +8.76%)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Civilian labor force — Utah. View source.

Utah unemployment-rate trend

From January 2017 to August 2026, Utah rose from 3.40% to 3.80%.

Unemployment rate (%)

Tap the chart to see the exact value and date.

View this data as a table
Utah unemployment rate — Utah, Unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Utah trend
PeriodUnemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted
August 20263.80%
July 20263.60%
June 20263.70%
May 20263.40%
April 20263.50%
March 20263.80%
February 20264.10%
January 20264.00%
December 20253.50%
November 20253.70%
September 20253.50%
August 20253.80%
July 20253.70%
June 20253.70%
May 20253.40%
April 20253.30%
March 20253.40%
February 20253.60%
January 20253.40%
December 20243.00%
November 20243.10%
October 20243.10%
September 20243.10%
August 20243.70%
July 20243.60%
June 20243.70%
May 20243.20%
April 20243.00%
March 20243.20%
February 20243.40%
January 20243.10%
December 20232.70%
November 20232.70%
October 20232.70%
September 20232.70%
August 20233.00%
July 20232.80%
June 20232.90%
May 20232.60%
April 20232.40%
March 20232.60%
February 20232.80%
January 20232.70%
December 20222.20%
November 20222.30%
October 20222.30%
September 20222.20%
August 20222.60%
July 20222.40%
June 20222.70%
May 20222.30%
April 20222.20%
March 20222.30%
February 20222.50%
January 20222.50%
December 20211.90%
November 20212.00%
October 20212.10%
September 20212.10%
August 20212.80%
July 20212.80%
June 20213.20%
May 20212.80%
April 20213.00%
March 20213.20%
February 20213.60%
January 20213.60%
December 20203.40%
November 20203.50%
October 20203.70%
September 20204.30%
August 20204.90%
July 20205.90%
June 20206.60%
May 20207.80%
April 20209.80%
March 20203.00%
February 20202.70%
January 20202.70%
December 20192.20%
November 20192.10%
October 20192.10%
September 20192.10%
August 20192.60%
July 20192.60%
June 20192.80%
May 20192.50%
April 20192.50%
March 20192.80%
February 20193.00%
January 20193.10%
December 20182.60%
November 20182.50%
October 20182.50%
September 20182.60%
August 20183.10%
July 20183.00%
June 20183.30%
May 20182.70%
April 20182.90%
March 20183.10%
February 20183.40%
January 20183.30%
December 20172.80%
November 20172.80%
October 20172.80%
September 20172.90%
August 20173.40%
July 20173.20%
June 20173.50%
May 20173.00%
April 20173.10%
March 20173.30%
February 20173.60%
January 20173.40%

Utah. Unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Local Area Unemployment Statistics — Utah trend. View source.

Jobs & population

Population & migration

Is Utah gaining population?

Population growth is one factor that can influence housing demand, alongside income, interest rates, and how much new supply is being built — not a prediction about where prices are headed. Net migration (people moving in minus people moving out) is often a more responsive early signal than the total population count itself, since it shows the direction of change before it fully shows up in the total.

Utah

3,417,734

Population estimate, 2023

The most recent available PEP estimate is older than its normal annual schedule.
Up 1.08% vs. 1 year ago

3,381,236 → 3,417,734 (+36,498 people, +1.08%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (PEP) — Utah. View source.

United States

334,914,895

Population estimate, 2023

The most recent available PEP estimate is older than its normal annual schedule.
Up 0.49% vs. 1 year ago

333,271,411 → 334,914,895 (+1,643,484 people, +0.49%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (PEP) — United States. View source.

Utah migration

Utah migration unavailable

We couldn't retrieve current Census migration data just now.

Household formation — the primary demand-side measure

A household is housing's most direct source of demand — one household typically needs one housing unit. Net household growth reflects more than people moving in: it also includes children forming their own households, marriages, divorces, roommates splitting up, and other household changes — not migration alone.

Utah, net new households

+160,573

2019–2024 (margin of error ±9,073)

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT, net new households

+63,941

2019–2024 (margin of error ±5,180)

Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT, net new households

+40,322

2019–2024 (margin of error ±2,716)

St. George, UT, net new households

+13,009

2019–2024 (margin of error ±3,237)

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B11001 (Total Households). Ogden isn't shown — Box Elder County was reassigned out of that metro area in a 2023 federal boundary update, so a single continuous household count for “Ogden” would silently mix two different geographies. Every figure carries real sampling error; a change smaller than its margin of error is flagged above as not statistically distinguishable from no change, not described as meaningful growth.

What does “margin of error” mean?

These figures come from a Census Bureau survey of a sample of households, not a count of every household — so each estimate has some built-in uncertainty, expressed as a margin of error (“±” a number). When a change from one year to another is smaller than its margin of error, the survey can't actually tell whether anything changed at all — the true value could be flat, up, or down within that range. That's why this page labels a small change “not statistically distinguishable from no change” rather than reporting it as real growth or decline. This applies everywhere “margin of error” appears on this page, not just here.

Is household growth happening more among owners or renters?

Total households above don't say whether that growth is owner-occupied or renter-occupied — the Census Bureau tracks tenure separately.

Owner households, net change, 2019–2024

+100,731

Margin of error ±11,019

Renter households, net change, 2019–2024

+59,842

Margin of error ±11,023

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25003 (Tenure). Every figure carries real sampling error.

Housing supply

Is housing construction increasing or decreasing?

Building permits are an early indicator of future housing supply, not completed housing inventory. Rising permit activity can mean more homes may reach the market later, although permits do not guarantee that every authorized unit will actually be built. A permit means construction has been authorized — it doesn't mean a home is finished or currently for sale.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey (BPS) counts new privately owned residential units authorized by permit — it does not include remodels, additions, or renovation projects. Permitted, started, and completed are three distinct stages: a unit can be permitted and never start construction, started and not yet finished, or completed years after its permit was issued. This chart shows permitted units only.

Housing stock, occupancy & vacancy

Total housing stock — every housing unit that actually exists, occupied or not — is a stronger measure of available supply than permits alone, since not every permitted unit has been built yet. The homeowner and rental vacancy rates below are the Census Bureau's own published figures, not a rate this page calculates.

Total housing units

1,283,206

+149,663 vs. 2019

Vacant housing units

98,778

7.70% of total stock

Homeowner vacancy rate

1.00%

0.80% 5 years earlier

Rental vacancy rate

6.10%

7.50% 5 years earlier

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table DP04 (Selected Housing Characteristics). Every figure carries real sampling error.

Households vs. housing stock — the primary comparison

Housing stock counts every unit that actually exists, not just what's been permitted — a stronger measure of real supply than permits alone (see below for the permit pipeline specifically).

Net new households

+160,573

2019–2024

Net new housing units (stock)

+149,663

2019–2024

Vacant-unit share, then vs. now

9.68% → 7.70%

2019 vs. 2024

Why this may matter

Household growth and housing-stock growth have moved at a broadly similar pace over this window, without either one clearly outrunning the other.

This comparison doesn't account for demolitions, second/seasonal homes, abandoned permits, or ACS sampling error, and it is not a measurement of a housing shortage or surplus.

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B11001 (households) and Table DP04 (housing stock).

What this may mean for the for-sale market

Owner-household growth, housing-stock growth, and the homeowner vacancy rate are not all pointing the same direction over this window, so this comparison doesn't support a clear ownership-market-pressure reading either way.

Housing stock here is every housing unit, not just owner-occupied ones. This reading doesn't include mortgage rates, the modeled payment burden, income growth, or construction mix — all shown elsewhere on this page — or buyer/seller behavior.

How does housing-stock growth compare across markets?

A statewide figure can hide a metro that's growing its housing stock much faster or slower than Utah overall.

5-year housing-stock growth by Utah market
Market5-year housing-stock change
Utah+13.20%
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT+13.64%
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT+20.99%
St. George, UT+19.26%

Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT and St. George, UT have moved more than 5percentage points away from Utah's statewide housing-stock growth pace over the same window — a statewide conclusion may not describe conditions there.

Ogden isn't shown — see the household-formation section above for why.

Utah building permits

26,775 units

Units authorized, 2025 — 62.65% single-family

Up 12.02% vs. 1 year agoDown 15.74% since 5 years agoUp 46.34% since 10 years ago

18,297 → 26,775 (+8,478 units, +46.34%)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS). View source.

Utah building-permit trend

From 2015 to 2025, Utah rose from 18,297 to 26,775.

New housing units

Tap the chart to see the exact value and date.

View this data as a table
Utah building permits authorized — Utah, Total housing units authorized by building permit, sourced from U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS) — Utah trend
PeriodTotal housing units authorized by building permit
202526,775
202423,902
202325,361
202231,749
202139,058
202031,775
201928,779
201825,574
201724,679
201622,662
201518,297

Utah. Total housing units authorized by building permit. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS) — Utah trend. View source.

Population vs. building permits

Permitted-housing activity has been growing faster than population, which may indicate the pipeline of future supply is expanding faster than demand from population growth alone.

Population is a point-in-time estimate (a stock); building permits are one year's authorized construction (a flow). This comparison is directional context, not a matched measurement of supply against demand.

Compared: population as of 2023 vs. 2022; permits authorized in 2025 vs. 2024.

Construction employment vs. building permits

Permitted-unit counts have been growing faster than construction employment, which may indicate a coming labor-capacity constraint on how quickly permitted homes can actually be built, or productivity/subcontracting shifts in the construction sector.

Compared: construction employment as of 2026-08; permits authorized in 2025 vs. 2024.

What kind of housing is Utah adding?

BPS also breaks permitted units out by structure type — a different question from owner-occupied vs. rental, which BPS does not report. A duplex or an apartment building can include an owner-occupied unit, and a single-family home can be a rental; structure type is not the same thing as who ends up living there.

1-unit structures

62.65%

16,774 units, 2025

2-4-unit structures

2.91%

780 units, 2025

5+-unit structures

34.44%

9,221 units, 2025

Shares of 26,775 total housing units authorized in 2025. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS).

The permit pipeline vs. new households

A secondary, forward-looking comparison — permits are authorized construction, not units that exist yet. Net new Utah households compared with new housing units permitted, over the identical 2019–2024 window — never different time spans compared against each other.

Net new households

+160,573

Margin of error ±9,073

New housing units permitted

151,845

Same window, summed across every year

Permitted units per new household

0.95

Above 1 suggests supply may be keeping pace; below 1 suggests it may be lagging

This is not a literal housing shortage or surplus calculation. Permits are not completions, and this comparison doesn't account for demolitions, vacancy, abandoned permits, or housing-stock loss — all of which also shape how much of that permitted supply actually becomes available housing.

Rent & investment context

Are rents rising relative to income?

Median gross rent from the Census ACS is a genuine, if lower-frequency, market survey figure. HUD's Fair Market Rent (shown separately) is a regulatory benchmark used to set housing-voucher payment amounts — not a live asking-rent feed.

Utah

$1,496

Median gross rent (ACS 5-year estimate), vintage ending 2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates — Utah. View source.

United States

$1,413

Median gross rent (ACS 5-year estimate), vintage ending 2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates — United States. View source.

HUD Fair Market Rent — Salt Lake City, UT HUD Metro FMR Area

$1,615

Two-bedroom, effective 2026 federal fiscal year — a housing-voucher benchmark, not a market-rent estimate

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Fair Market Rents. View source.

Rent-to-income — Utah

18.62%

Estimated annual rent as a share of median household income

Source: Census ACS median gross rent and SAIPE median household income.

Renter households and rental vacancy

Renter households, net change, 2019–2024

+59,842

Margin of error ±11,023

Rental vacancy rate

6.10%

7.50% 5 years earlier

5+-unit share of permitted units

34.44%

Structural proxy only — BPS doesn't report tenure

Why this may matter

Renter households have grown by an amount larger than its own sampling error, while the rental vacancy rate has fallen — a combination that may indicate tighter conditions for renters, though it does not predict future rent direction.

This does not count new rental-specific supply directly — BPS reports structure type (1-unit / 2-4-unit / 5+-unit), not tenure, so no rental-unit construction figure is used here. Rent growth and income growth are shown elsewhere on this page, not folded into this reading.

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25003 (Tenure) and Table DP04 (Selected Housing Characteristics).

What kind of building are Utah's rentals in?

Utah statewide only — a county-level breakdown gets too thin to publish reliably for this page's smaller counties. Every renter-occupied home in the survey falls into one of these structure types; shares may not sum to exactly 100% because mobile homes and other structure types aren't broken out separately here.

Single-family rental share

34.58%

1-unit detached or attached structures

2–4 unit rental share

17.56%

Duplex, triplex, and fourplex structures

5+ unit rental share

45.52%

Apartment-scale multifamily structures

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B25032 (Tenure by Units in Structure), 2024.

Rent, employment, population, and permit trends are market context, not a specific property's numbers.

Already own a rental?

Run the Numbers on a Utah Rental PropertySee Whether to Sell, Hold, or Refinance

Local market comparison

How do Utah's counties compare?

Income, rent, home value, population, and building-permit data all genuinely publish at the county level, so they're shown together here rather than as separate sections — now including Washington County (St. George). Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.

Never mix metro and county figures for the same measure— St. George's Home Prices and Employment figures earlier on this page are metro-level (FHFA/BLS); Washington County below is the same place, but from separate county-level Census surveys.

How county and metro-area boundaries differ

St. George itself, as a Metropolitan Statistical Area, appears earlier on this page in the Home Prices and Employment sections — FHFA and BLS publish at the metro level for those two datasets. Washington County below is the same geographic boundary as the St. George MSA (it's a single-county metro), but the income, rent, population, and permit figures come from separate Census Bureau surveys that publish at the county level, not the metro level. Never mix the two: a Census county figure and an FHFA/BLS metro figure aren't interchangeable just because they cover the same place. See the Methodology & FAQ section below for the full distinction.

Median household income, median gross rent, median owner-occupied home value, rental vacancy rate, population, population growth, and building permits by Utah county
CountyMedian household incomeMedian gross rentMedian owner-occupied home valueRental vacancy ratePopulationPopulation growth (1 yr)New housing units permitted (2025)1-year change in new housing units permitted
Salt Lake County, UT$99,008$1,592$525,7005.50%1,185,813-0.06%7,179+57.78%
Utah County, UT$100,611$1,541$538,7002.70%719,174+2.35%7,202+13.94%
Davis County, UT$106,675$1,621$505,5005.30%373,207+0.90%1,917+30.59%
Weber County, UT$88,111$1,379$426,7004.90%271,926+0.92%1,490-8.59%
Tooele County, UT$111,901$1,189$431,6005.40%82,051+2.62%523-41.69%
Wasatch County, UT$129,019$2,000$787,3006.30%37,144+1.49%1,128+35.09%
Washington County, UT$86,715$1,566$510,70010.60%202,452+2.39%2,857-9.36%

Rental vacancy rate: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table DP04 — the same official, Census-computed rate used elsewhere on this page, published at the county level here rather than the 1-year product's state/metro-only coverage. Not necessarily the same ACS vintage year as the other columns in this table, since each dataset resolves its own latest available release independently.

Where Todd fits in

Todd isn't an economist and doesn't predict where prices or rates are headed. What he can help with is what these conditions actually mean for a specific property or decision.

Questions

Methodology & FAQ

What is the FHFA House Price Index?
It's a repeat-sales home-price index published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, built from repeated sales and refinance appraisals of the same homes over time. It measures price change, not an absolute dollar value — there's no dollar figure attached to the index itself, which is why this page shows percentage change rather than a home price.
Why doesn't the FHFA chart show a dollar home value?
FHFA's index measures relative price change, not a dollar amount, and averaging sale prices across a whole state or metro would be a different (and less accurate) statistic than what FHFA actually publishes. This page shows a genuine dollar figure separately, further down — the Census Bureau's median owner-occupied home value — clearly labeled as a different measure from FHFA's appreciation index. For an estimate of what a specific home might be worth, see the Home Value page.
How is "annual home-price appreciation" calculated?
Each completed calendar year compares that year's fourth-quarter FHFA index value with the same quarter one year earlier — the same "four-quarter change" convention FHFA itself uses in its own quarterly news releases. The current, still-in-progress year is shown separately, comparing the latest published quarter with the same quarter one year earlier, and is always labeled as a partial-year reading (e.g. "2026 Q1 YoY") rather than presented as a completed year's appreciation.
What does "annualized" mean, and how is it different from "total" appreciation?
Annualized figures use CAGR — compound annual growth rate: (ending value ÷ starting value)^(1 ÷ number of years) − 1 — the correct way to express a multi-year change as a single "per year" rate. It is not an average of each year's individual percentage change, which would overstate or understate true compounding. Total appreciation is the plain cumulative percentage change over the whole window with no annualizing at all. This page labels every figure as one or the other and never mixes them.
What is "Median Owner-Occupied Home Value," and how is it different from the FHFA figures above?
It's the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) estimate of the median value homeowners themselves report their home would sell for — a genuine dollar figure. It is not an actual sale price, a listing price, or an automated valuation, and it measures something structurally different from FHFA's House Price Index, which tracks price change using repeat sales and has no dollar value of its own. The two numbers should never be treated as interchangeable.
Is the home value-to-income ratio an official affordability index?
No. It's a straightforward division — median owner-occupied home value ÷ median household income, for the same geography and a comparable year — not any official, third-party affordability benchmark, which would use its own separate methodology this page doesn't attempt to reproduce. Mortgage rates, down payment size, taxes, and insurance all affect real affordability in ways a single ratio doesn't capture.
What's the difference between nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) home-price change?
Nominal change is the raw percentage change in the price index. Real change divides that by the change in consumer prices (CPI) over the same period, showing whether home prices grew faster or slower than the cost of everything else. A home can show strong nominal appreciation while its real, inflation-adjusted appreciation is much smaller.
Is Salt Lake City CPI the same as "Utah inflation"?
No. The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't publish a statewide Utah CPI — the Salt Lake City metro series is the closest genuinely Utah-specific inflation figure that exists. Where this page compares Utah home prices against inflation, it's explicitly paired with Salt Lake-area CPI and labeled as a state-vs-metro comparison, not presented as "Utah inflation."
Are the rates shown here mortgage rates?
No. The federal funds rate, prime rate, and Treasury yields shown below don't set mortgage rates directly — they shape the broader borrowing and bond-market environment mortgage rates move within, without a fixed mechanical relationship. For an actual national average mortgage rate, see the Mortgage Rate Center.
How current is this data, and what happens when a source is unavailable?
Each card shows its own "as of" date and is checked against that source's real publication schedule — a quarterly FHFA release isn't flagged as stale merely because it's a few weeks old, but a Federal Reserve rate that hasn't updated in over a week is. If a source can't be reached, the card says so honestly rather than showing an old or invented number as current.
Is HUD's Fair Market Rent the same as current asking rent?
No. HUD's Fair Market Rent is a federal benchmark — the 40th-percentile gross rent HUD calculates annually to set housing-voucher payment standards — not a live market-rent estimate. It's shown separately from, and clearly labeled apart from, the Census ACS median gross rent figures above, which are a genuine (if lower-frequency) survey-based market estimate.
Do building permits mean those homes are finished and for sale?
No. A building permit is an early indicator of future housing supply — it means construction has been authorized, not completed. It can take a year or more between a permit being issued and a home being ready to occupy, and some permitted projects are delayed, changed, or never built.
Does population growth mean home prices will go up?
Not by itself. Population growth is one factor that can influence housing demand, alongside income growth, interest rates, and how much new supply is being built — it isn't a prediction about where prices are headed.
Why does this page show income from one source (SAIPE) instead of several?
Household income, personal income, and per-capita income measure genuinely different things, and mixing them without saying so risks a misleading comparison. This page uses the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) median household income consistently across every geography shown, rather than switching sources by geography.
Is the St. George figure a metro area or Washington County?
It depends on the dataset, and this page always labels which one it's showing. FHFA home-price data and BLS employment/unemployment data publish at the St. George, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area level, so that's what appears in the Home Prices and Employment sections above. Income, rent, population, and building-permit data come from Census Bureau surveys that publish at the county level, so those appear as Washington County in the Utah counties table below. The MSA and the county cover the same geographic boundary (St. George is a single-county metro), but the underlying federal surveys — and therefore the actual numbers — are genuinely different, so they're never blended into one figure.
Why isn't there a St. George inflation (CPI) figure?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't publish a CPI series for St. George. A 2018 geographic revision left most mid-size U.S. metro areas — including Provo-Orem and Ogden, not just St. George — without a dedicated monthly index; Salt Lake City is the one Utah metro that still has its own series.
Why are some 10-year comparisons on this page actually 9-year comparisons?
It's a real constraint of BLS's public API, not a rounding choice. Without a registered API key, BLS's timeseries endpoint enforces a hard 10-distinct-calendar-year limit per request and — confirmed directly against a live response while building this page — truncates by dropping the most recent years, not the oldest. Reaching all the way back to a full 10 years while still including the current year would exceed that limit, so BLS-sourced long-run figures (inflation, unemployment, nonfarm and construction employment, civilian labor force) are genuinely 9-year comparisons, labeled that way rather than rounded up. FHFA home prices, Census income, and Census building permits aren't subject to this same limit, so those long-run figures are genuine 10-year comparisons.
How are the "reading it together" and cross-metric notes generated?
Each one is produced by a fixed rule comparing two already-computed figures on this page — for example, population growth against building-permit growth, or income growth against inflation over the identical period. Nothing is generated freeform: the wording is chosen from a small set of pre-written, hedged statements ("may indicate," "can be consistent with") based on which direction and roughly how large the gap between the two figures is. These notes only appear when both figures are available and cover a comparable time period — otherwise nothing is shown rather than a misleading comparison.
How is "Utah Market at a Glance" at the top of this page generated?
The same way as the rest of the page: every figure is read directly from the same FHFA/BLS/Census/Federal Reserve data shown in full further down, with the same "as of" dates and the same honest unavailable/stale handling. The short context line under each figure is chosen from a small set of fixed, hedged templates comparing that single metric's own recent pace to its own longer-run pace — never a composite score, and never a comparison between two different metrics (that's what "Reading the Utah Market" and the individual cross-metric notes are for). No AI model writes or updates any of this text.

Author: Todd McClean, Realtor® | Real Estate Investment Strategist, CENTURY 21 Everest Realty Group. Reviewed October 19, 2026. This page provides Utah housing market and economic data and is not legal, tax, accounting, lending, securities, commodities, or financial-planning advice. This page reflects data retrieved from FHFA, BLS, and the Federal Reserve Board as of the date above and isn't updated in real time between visits.

CallTextEmailStrategy