Heber City grew by an estimated 697 new residents in 2025. That 3.5% increase to 20,811 people made it the fourth fastest-growing city in Utah with a population between 20,000 and 49,999, and seventh overall.

Park City had the fifth fastest decline for a city with 5,000 to 19,999 residents when its population dropped by 56 to 8,284, a 0.7% decrease.

Those figures are part of a report released Tuesday by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute on population change from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, for Utah’s 255 incorporated cities and towns and 29 unincorporated county areas. 

“These estimates strengthen local and state decision-making by revealing where growth is concentrated and where population is declining, providing leaders with a foundation for better regional planning and investment,” Natalie Gochnour, the Gardner Policy Institute director, said.

The report says 172 communities had population increases, 100 communities had declines and 12 stayed the same. Utah added 44,351 residents, a 1.3% increase that bumped up the population to an estimated 3,551,150 as of July 1, 2025.

As of July 1, 2025, unincorporated Summit County had added 73 residents, which brought the population to 27,484, a 0.3% increase. Unincorporated Wasatch County saw a 1.0% rise to 9,496, with 92 new community members.

The top three cities with the largest absolute growth were Saratoga Springs, which added 4,682 residents; Eagle Mountain, with 4,169 new residents; and Salt Lake City, with 3,303 new residents. Saratoga Springs, population 60,351, and Eagle Mountain, population 65,409, also had the two highest percentage increases, 8.4% and 6.8%, respectively. 

Salt Lake City’s population went up 1.5% to 221,118 residents. The report notes the capital city continues to grow while many older, well-established cities both in Utah and the United States experience declines.

Other findings include that for the first time, more than half of Utah’s population lived in cities with a population of 50,000 or more. Approximately 27% lived in communities of 20,000 to 49,999; 17% in communities of 5,000 to 19,999; 4% in communities of 1,000 to 4,999; and about 1% in communities with populations under 1,000.

The institute says it provides a comprehensive set of estimates by applying the housing unit method. The model starts with a base count of the household population from the decennial census and updates it based on the number of new housing units and Census tract-level persons per housing unit. Then, household growth is adjusted to align with county totals and combined with estimates of the group quarters population to produce an annual total population estimate.

For a complete list of cities, towns and unincorporated areas and their estimated populations, visit tinyurl.com/33mthpwx.

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