Utah County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, ranking among the top ten counties in numerical growth.[4] Correspondingly, Provo–Orem is among the top eight metropolitan areas by percentage growth in the country.[5]
The legislature of theState of Deseret created a county on January 31, 1850,[7] to govern the civic affairs ofUtah 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 (Yuta) for theUteIndians. The State of Deseret dissolved soon after (April 5, 1851), 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 (1872–73). 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.[8]
The county's boundaries were adjusted in 1852, 1854, 1856, 1862, 1880, and 1884. It has retained its present boundary since 1884.[9]
Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range is visible from much of Utah County.A partial view ofUtah Valley seen here from outside ofSalem
Utah County terrain ranges from steep mountain ranges in the east (theWasatch Range), 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.[10] The county generally slopes to the west and north, with its highest point (the northern peak of the twin-peakedMt. Nebo in the southern part of the county), at 11,928 ft (3,636 m) ASL.[11] The county has an area of 2,144 square miles (5,550 km2), of which 2,003 square miles (5,190 km2) is land and 141 square miles (370 km2) (6.6%) is water.[12]
Utah Valley lies at the center of the county, lined by the mountains of theWasatch Range on the east.Utah Lake occupies a large part of the valley. The elevation ranges from 4,487 feet (1,368 m) above sea level at the lake to 11,928 feet (3,636 m) at the peak ofMount Nebo.
1 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.
There were 330,884 (50.18%) males and 328,515 (49.82%) females, and the population distribution by age was 216,133 (32.8%) under the age of 18, 389,673 (59.1%) from 18 to 64, and 53,593 (8.1%) 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 (80.4%) were families and 36,082 (19.6%) were non-families. Among all families, 124,424 (67.4%) weremarried couples, 8,394 (4.5%) were male householders with no spouse, and 15,658 (8.5%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 23,748 (12.9%) were a single person living alone and 12,334 (6.7%) were two or more people living together. 88,011 (47.7%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 124,353 (67.4%) of households wereowner-occupied while 60,205 (32.6%) wererenter-occupied.
The median income for a Utah County household was $77,057 and the median family income was $83,938, with aper-capita income of $27,365. The median income for males that werefull-time employees was $60,356 and for females $37,391. 10.0% of the population and 6.9% of families were below thepoverty line.
The government is a three-member electedcounty commission elected at-large. Other elected officials include the countysheriff, thecounty clerk, county recorder, county assessor, county surveyor, county treasurer, and thecounty 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.[26]
The first sheriff of the county was John T. Willis, who was succeeded byWilliam Madison Wall. Alexander Williams served duringJohn Cradlebaugh's court in 1859. He was succeeded by Eli Whipple, who resigned in 1861 and was replaced by Russell Kelly.[27] In 2020, Sheriff Mike Smith publicly stated he would not enforceCOVID-19 face mask mandates.[28]
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 awildland fires response andurban interspace service with some structure fire andHAZMAT abatement capability.[29]
Utah County has been referred to as "the most Republican county in the most Republican state in the United States".[31] It has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate nine times since statehood, but has not done so since 1964.
In the1992 presidential election,George H. W. Bush received the most votes andBill Clinton was third in votes received. In the2004 presidential election, 85.99% voted forGeorge W. Bush.[32] In the2008 U.S. presidential election, the county voted forJohn McCain by a 58.9% margin overBarack Obama, compared to McCain winning by 28.1% statewide.[33] Eight other Utah counties voted more strongly in favor of McCain.[34] In the2012 election,Mitt Romney received 88.32% of the vote. In2016, it gave a slim majority of the vote toDonald Trump, and nearly 30% of the vote to independent candidateEvan McMullin, who outperformedHillary Clinton in the county. This was McMullin's largest share of the vote in any county in Utah and his second best nationwide afterMadison County, Idaho. In2020, Democratic candidateJoe 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.
Until2013, 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 the3rd District, represented by RepublicanMike Kennedy, former Provo Mayor. Much of the county's area however, including Utah Lake, resides in the4th District currently represented by RepublicanBurgess 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,[35] are Republicans.
Utah County saw high rates of opioid and other prescription drug addiction from the mid-2000s onwards, foreshadowing the nationalopioid crisis. The 2008 documentaryHappy Valley examined the problem.[64]
Giving USA, which reports on charitable giving in the US, named Utah County as one of the three most generous counties in philanthropic donations, alongsideSan Juan County, Utah andMadison County, Idaho.[65]
Much of Utah's transportation infrastructure was built to support automobiles. Prior to the 1950s, Utah County relied on theU.S. Highway System for local transportation. WhenI-15 was built in 1956 (parallel toHighway 89), it became the dominant transportation vein in the state. The I-15 CORE project added multiple lanes on I-15 through most of Utah County. This expanded 24 miles (39 km) of freeway and was completed in 2012.[67] Other construction projects by UDOT have been done on I-15 since then, including the Technology Corridor project and the Point of the Mountain project.[68] However, the highway system retains its significance in Utah County due to the mountainous terrain.[69]Highway 6 is the closest major road connecting Colorado to the Wasatch Front, running through Spanish Fork Canyon before converging with I-15 in the city of Spanish Fork. Portions of Highway 89 have become prominent local roads known collectively as 'State Street'.Highway 189 is known as 'University Avenue' in the city of Provo, and runs throughProvo Canyon intoHeber in neighboringWasatch County.
Utah County has seen significant growth in public transportation over the past 15 years, owing in part to the county's large student population of more than 70,000 commuting to-and-fromBrigham Young University (BYU) in Provo andUtah Valley University (UVU) in Orem. The two cities jointly operateUVX, abus rapid transit system, as part of their city bus routes. Provo also serves as the southernmost terminus of theFrontRunner, Utah's intrastate commuter rail service.[70] The Provo FrontRunner station is located on South University Avenue, directly southwest of Amtrak's Provo Station—which is Utah's third westbound stop, after Green River and Helper, for the California Zephyr Amtrak route. In addition to Provo, The FrontRunner currently has three stops in the county. The Orem FrontRunner station is located on the west side of I-15, served by a pedestrian bridge over the freeway that connects the UVU campus directly to the station. An additional stop inVineyard, Utah was completed in August 2022.[71] Utah County also operates the American Fork FrontRunner Station and the Lehi FrontRunner Station located nearThanksgiving Point. From Lehi, the FrontRunner leaves Utah County and entersSalt Lake County.
^"First Sheriffs of Utah County" Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine, Volume 3, 1885, Page 392, accessed athttps://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/46400242 on June 7, 2018 (includes list of sheriffs through around 1876).
(1994)"Utah County" article in theUtah History Encyclopedia. The article was written by Roger Roper and the Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived fromthe original on March 21, 2024, and retrieved on March 27, 2024.
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