Residents in northwestern Salt Lake County are more economically challenged than their counterparts elsewhere in the county and Utah. 

The latest fact sheet compiled by Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah shows that households in the northwestern part of the county, comprised of West Valley City, Magna, Kearns, Magna, Taylorsville and western Salt Lake City, earn less than households in the rest of the county and state. 

Median household income in the northwest part of the valley from 2019 to 2023 was about $11,000 below the county as a whole and $8,500 under the statewide average. These figures were derived as part of the effort to get a better profile of the population of the northwestern part of Salt Lake County ahead of the completion of the new University of Utah hospital now under construction in West Valley City, the first such major medical center on the county’s far west side.

The report shows that northwest county residents had a per capita income of $29,750 compared with $43,393 for the entire county, and $39,240 across all of Utah. 

Median household income in northwestern Salt Lake County communities also lagged behind the rest of the county and state. Households in western Salt Lake City earned $68,585 during the period of 2019-23, Kearns $83,335, Taylorsville $85,608, Magna $87,516, and West Valley City $88,604. Throughout the county, household earnings averaged $94,658. Statewide it was $91,750. 

Poverty rates in northwestern cities ranged from 7.8% in Kearns to 12.4% on Salt Lake City’s west side. Countywide it was 8.4% and 8.6% throughout the state. Poverty among children was significantly higher in the west side communities. 

Northwest valley residents 16 and older engaged in the labor force by either working or seeking employment was a relatively high 72.5% compared to 72.2% across Salt Lake County and 69.6% in Utah. West Valley City had the largest number of employed residents—42.6%—in the northwestern part of the county, not surprising since it is by far the largest city in the area and second most populous in the state.  

These and other economic statistics compiled by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute in its most recent report will help form a general picture of area residents to shape expectations of who the university’s new Eccles Health Campus and Hospital at 3750 S. 5600 West will likely serve when it is scheduled to open in 2028.