Washington County, UT

County Profile

196,431 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Washington County, UT.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 46% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 15% of 1,463 counties measured74
Schools924th of 1,377 counties measured37
GrowthTop 2% of 1,453 counties measured86
Housing affordability1,415th of 1,462 counties measured43
Climate774th of 1,463 counties measured68
Physical resilience1,307th of 1,463 counties measured24
AccessTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured91
Economic stabilityTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured70
The quick read

Washington County ranks in the top 15% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.8% and median household income of $80,632.

In the public schools here, 45% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 21.9 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 3,094 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 19% on the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
196,431
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,632
Top 17% nationally
Density
81/sq mi
2,427.6 sq mi of land
Median age
39.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Washington County
Utah
Metro area
Nearest major airport
SGU
16 mi · St George Rgnl
Median home value
$510,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8%, lower than in 61% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 90,652 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 86% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$82,78585th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$69,34175th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,6442024 ACS 5-Year$80,632Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3732024 ACS 5-Year$39,171Top 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$55,161Bottom 46%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.7%Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.2 minTop 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year35.2%Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.6%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202690,652Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+5.2%Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Top 38%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202694,18575th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year75.3%Bottom 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 36%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.8%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year14.0%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.02.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202481k65k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,632 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — St. George, UT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,460$28,270
Retail Salespersons3,050$33,150
Office Clerks, General2,560$44,880
General and Operations Managers2,050$82,850
Stockers and Order Fillers1,950$36,940
Registered Nurses1,910$86,380

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

45% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 21.9 students for every full-time teacher across 58 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
62
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
21.9
across 58 of them
Math proficiency
44.8%
Bottom 45% in Utah
Reading proficiency
49.3%
Bottom 45% in Utah
The 12 largest of 62 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Crimson Cliffs HighWashington District1,40126.9——
Snow Canyon HighWashington District1,32424.527%48%
Dixie HighWashington District1,26324.332%49%
Desert Hills HighWashington District1,24127.056%58%
Hurricane HighWashington District1,17726.830%49%
Pine View HighWashington District1,12422.530%53%
Vista School · charterVista School1,11421.441%50%
George Washington Academy · charterGeorge Washington Academy1,01323.068%69%
Crimson Cliffs MiddleWashington District93323.971%53%
Washington Fields IntermediateWashington District91324.7——
Desert Hills MiddleWashington District90924.655%53%
Dixie MiddleWashington District84426.447%40%

31.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Utah’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 96.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the St. George, UT Metro Area is up 30% over five years, but down 0.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,158 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.42% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,575, close to the $1,566 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,575 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $63,000 a year, about 78% of the median household income here of $80,632.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,566 a month.

A median home at $510,700 costs 5.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $97,759, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
96.7

Prices here run about 3% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the St. George, UT Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
33.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,575
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,566
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$510,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Washington County’s median household income of $80,632, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe St. George, UT Metro Area’s figure202396.7Bottom 41%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the St. George, UT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−0.1%5th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the St. George, UT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+29.6%10th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the St. George, UT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+114.5%83rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year5.2Bottom 3%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year71.6%36th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±702024 ACS 5-Year82,18989th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,218Bottom 25%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,072Bottom 22%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,575Bottom 22%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$562024 ACS 5-Year$1,566Bottom 6%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,7802024 ACS 5-Year$510,70096th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$2,15869th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,6262024 ACS 5-Year$97,759Top 15%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.42%9th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year33.4%Bottom 8%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±7802024 ACS 5-Year8,31597th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%81st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%16th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8972024 ACS 5-Year12,40393rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

86/ 100
Top 2% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 14% since 2020, reaching 207,943 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 2,805 units authorized in 2025, 11% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 3,094 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 18% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Washington County gained about 1.9% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $82,785, above the $69,341 of households that moved out.

At 15.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
3,094
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
15.8
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
+19%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
18.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024208k182k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
57%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$82,785
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$69,341
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Salt Lake County, UT 1,489 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Utah County, UT 1,361 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Clark County, NV 781 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Iron County, UT 624 people · 5.1% of arrivals
  5. Davis County, UT 497 people · 4.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Utah County, UT 1,026 people · 11% of departures
  2. Salt Lake County, UT 864 people · 9.4% of departures
  3. Iron County, UT 658 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Clark County, NV 635 people · 6.9% of departures
  5. Davis County, UT 278 people · 3.0% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420253k3k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−12%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 14.2 inches, including 10.8 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station VEYO POWERHOUSE, 11.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals14.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals10.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

24 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are wildfire, inland flooding and lightning, with wildfire alone responsible for 46% of it. Lightning is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

WildfireHigh
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, landslide, heat wave, avalanche, volcanic activity, ice storm, winter weather, drought, strong wind, tornado, hail, cold wave, tsunami, coastal flooding, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Washington County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 14.3 per 100,000 residents in Washington County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
14.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
23.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Washington County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest St George Rgnl at 16 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year93.1%Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle16 miTop 19%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%Top 6%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
St George RgnlSGU16 mi9,300 ft
Cedar City RgnlCDC37 mi8,653 ft
Grand Canyon Ntl ParkGCN117 mi8,999 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
58
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.