Riverton, Utah

Area Profile

45,457 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Riverton, in Salt Lake County.

71out of 100
Area Score
Top 15% of 2,943 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 5% of 3,899 cities measured82
GrowthTop 13% of 2,973 cities measured73
Housing affordability2,400th of 4,147 cities measured76
Climate3,958th of 4,223 cities measured55
Physical resilience2,214th of 4,182 cities measured55
AccessTop 43% of 4,226 cities measured94
Economic stabilityTop 4% of 4,226 cities measured82
The quick read

Riverton ranks in the top 5% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.5% and median household income of $126,910.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 369 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 35% on the prior year.

A major airport is 19 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

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
45,457
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$126,910
Top 9% nationally
Density
3,606/sq mi
12.6 sq mi of land
Median age
34.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Salt Lake County
Utah
Metro area
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
Nearest major airport
SLC
19 mi · Salt Lake City Intl
Median home value
$592,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5% is lower than 84% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment held steady over the past year, at 24,205 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 79% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 91% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$7,558$126,910Top 9%of 29,4632024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,818$44,277Top 25%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate3.6%Bottom 18%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.9 minTop 49%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher37.7%Top 21%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment24,205Bottom 31%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.9%Top 15%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.0%Top 30%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force25,079Bottom 31%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation73.0%Top 12%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$71,660Top 41%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$55,240Top 34%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 47%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate3.5%Bottom 16%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/063.51.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% in June 2026. 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
2021202220232024127k108k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $126,910 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 — Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Customer Service Representatives26,620$45,410
General and Operations Managers20,870$103,710
Retail Salespersons20,330$34,420
Fast Food and Counter Workers19,590$29,070
Software Developers19,040$129,600
Office Clerks, General16,260$45,220

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

A new two-bedroom lease runs about $1,747, below the $2,137 tenants already here pay, which is unusual and generally means asking rents have softened.

Median rent of $2,137 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
97.1

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.

Rent as a share of income
20.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,747
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$2,137
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$592,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index97.1Bottom 34%of 3,6582023
Home price to income4.67Top 18%of 27,9722024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate84.9%Top 31%of 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±60114,406Top 4%of 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroom$1,456Top 47%of 4,067FY2026
Market rent, three bedroom$2,333Top 43%of 4,067FY2026
Market rent, two bedroom$1,747Top 45%of 4,067FY2026
Median gross rent ±$225$2,137Top 7%of 23,3292024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$20,115$592,700Top 9%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.2%Top 39%of 22,8042024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.7%Bottom 27%of 31,8722024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
73/ 100
Top 13% of 2,973 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run, not a comparison of the two endpoints.

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 3% since 2020, reaching 46,680 in 2024.

71% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 8.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
369
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.1
Top 18% nationally
Year over year
+35%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
71.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202447k45k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025472236
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+54%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 15.5 inches, including 51.9 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 54, in the Moderate band, and about 43 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SALT LAKE CITY INTL AP, 18.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index101.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation15.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall51.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 100432024 calendar year
Median air quality index54.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing50°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
54
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
101
90th percentile index
Days above 100
43
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modeled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — a little over half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and about a fifth of all US counties do, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, wildfire and avalanche.

EarthquakeModerate
AvalancheModerate
WildfireElevated

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
62
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
719
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Riverton's police department reported 62 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 719.

Salt Lake County records 3.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.4 per 100,000 residents in Salt Lake County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
20.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
20.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Riverton’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Salt Lake County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city center and a quiet suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Riverton rather than Riverton itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Some things people look for are not on this page, and each is absent for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighborhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 19 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Salt Lake City IntlSLC19 mi12,002 ft
Provo MuniPVU24 mi8,603 ft
Ogden-HinckleyOGD47 mi8,107 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
71
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Other cities in Salt Lake City-Murray, UT

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Salt Lake CitySalt Lake County208,00761vs Riverton
West Valley CitySalt Lake County138,43756vs Riverton
West JordanSalt Lake County116,69263vs Riverton
SandySalt Lake County94,29163vs Riverton
South JordanSalt Lake County82,68670vs Riverton
MillcreekSalt Lake County63,64869vs Riverton
HerrimanSalt Lake County59,34667vs Riverton
TaylorsvilleSalt Lake County58,67855vs Riverton
DraperSalt Lake County50,27863vs Riverton
MurraySalt Lake County50,18857vs Riverton
TooeleTooele County38,40560vs Riverton
Kearns metro townshipSalt Lake County37,696vs Riverton

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April 2025 to March 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026Annually, each October for the coming fiscal year
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.