Salt Lake County, Utah
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Salt Lake County is Utah's population center, economic anchor, and the state's most distressed large county simultaneously. It scores 40.5, Normal, but ranks 14th of 29 Utah counties, meaning nearly half the state scores better. Every neighboring county does. Utah County (Provo) hits 32.5, Healthy. Davis County manages 28.1. Tooele 30.7. The bankruptcy filing rate tells the sharpest story. At 275 per 100,000 residents, Salt Lake County's rate stands out against its low poverty (9.5%) and moderate income (1.25x the state median). Households aren't poor in the traditional sense. They're leveraged. Housing Cost Burden scores at the 75.5th percentile. Renter burden runs at 45.6%. The rent-to-income ratio of 22.3% is the highest among all non-Elevated counties in this batch. The wage-to-rent ratio of 3.7 sits among the lowest. What makes Salt Lake County distinctive is the combination. Low poverty, moderate incomes, high filing rates, heavy housing burden. The pattern is one of overextension rather than deprivation. Households earning enough to not qualify as distressed by income measures are still arriving at the bankruptcy courthouse at rates that suggest the budget math isn't quite working.
The Numbers Behind the Score
The CDI measures five statistically derived factors of household financial distress, PCA-weighted. Salt Lake County's primary driver is Legal Distress at 88.2 — worse than roughly 88% of U.S. counties.
Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed.
Neighbors and Peers
Neighboring Counties
| County | Score | Zone | vs. Salt Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake County, UT | 48.2 | Normal | — |
| Tooele County, UT | 38.5 | Normal | -9.7 |
| Utah County, UT | 36.5 | Normal | -11.7 |
| Davis County, UT | 32.2 | Healthy | -16.0 |
| Wasatch County, UT | 26.0 | Healthy | -22.2 |
| Summit County, UT | 20.6 | Healthy | -27.6 |
| Morgan County, UT | 15.3 | Healthy | -32.9 |
Population Peers
| County | Score | Zone | vs. Salt Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collin County, TX | 48.5 | Normal | +0.3 |
| San Diego County, CA | 48.8 | Normal | +0.6 |
| Travis County, TX | 51.2 | Elevated | +3.0 |
| Orange County, CA | 44.1 | Normal | -4.0 |
| Suffolk County, NY | 43.9 | Normal | -4.3 |
Download Data
Export all distress indicators for Salt Lake County as a CSV file.
Find Help in Salt Lake County
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Free Legal Aid
Legal aid organizations serving Salt Lake County residents at no cost.
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