Utah Q and A
The fastest-growing city in Utah.
By the most recent federal count, Eagle Mountain, in Utah County, was Utah's fastest-growing city, adding more than 5,000 residents for a growth rate of about 8.5 percent in the year ending July 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates released in May 2026. That put it ninth among all U.S. cities of at least 20,000 people. Saratoga Springs, right next door, came in a close second, and the University of Utah's own count actually ranked Saratoga Springs first, so the honest answer is that the two trade the top spot depending on whose numbers you read. Below is the current ranking with sources and dates, the difference between percent growth and raw numeric growth, the Southern Utah story around St. George, and what all this growth means if you are trying to buy here.
Growth numbers change every year. For the deeper Southern Utah data, see is Southern Utah still growing, and for the wider picture, the Utah Q and A hub.
On this page
The answer, right now
Which Utah city is growing fastest.
The short answer, by the latest federal numbers: Eagle Mountain in Utah County. The U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 city and town estimates, released in May 2026, showed Eagle Mountain adding more than 5,000 residents in the year ending July 2025, a growth rate of about 8.5 percent that ranked ninth among all U.S. cities of at least 20,000 people. Saratoga Springs, the next city over on the west side of Utah Lake, finished a step behind on the federal list, adding more than 4,200 residents.
There is a wrinkle worth knowing, because it shows how these lists work. The University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute runs its own annual count, and in the same period it ranked Saratoga Springs first, with about 4,682 new residents and an 8.4 percent increase, and Eagle Mountain second. Two respected sources, two different number-one cities, both correct within their own method. So if you want one name, Eagle Mountain is the federal answer for 2025. If you want the truer picture, the two Utah County neighbors are running neck and neck at the front of the pack, and which one leads depends on the month the estimate covers and how each agency counts. Either way, the fastest growth in Utah right now sits on the open land west of Utah Lake.
The leaders
Utah's growth leaders, by the numbers.
Here are the leaders from the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates, for the year ending July 1, 2025, released in May 2026, with each city shown by the measure that puts it near the top. Figures are rounded and get restated every spring, so read them as a dated snapshot rather than a permanent standing.
| City and county | What the Vintage 2025 data shows |
|---|---|
| Eagle Mountain, Utah County | Utah's fastest-growing city by percent, about 8.5 percent, which ranked ninth among all U.S. cities of at least 20,000 |
| Saratoga Springs, Utah County | A close second on the federal percent list, adding more than 4,200 residents; the University of Utah's own count ranked it first |
| Lehi, Utah County | Among the state's largest raw-number gains, adding roughly 2,400 residents |
| St. George, Washington County | The Southern Utah leader; its metro area ranked eighth among U.S. metros for growth |
| Washington, Washington County | St. George's fast-growing Washington County neighbor |
Percent vs numeric
Two ways to measure fastest, and they name different winners.
Fastest-growing is a slippery phrase, because there are two honest ways to measure it and they point at different cities. Percentage growth divides the new residents by the size the city started at, so a smaller city building on open ground can post an eye-catching rate. That is why Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs top the percent list: they started smaller and have room to build, so each year of construction is a big share of the whole. A large, already-built city almost never shows a high percentage, even when it is adding plenty of people.
Numeric growth counts raw heads, and there the big established places win. Across Utah, the largest absolute gains land in the built-up metros of the Wasatch Front, where Salt Lake County and the Provo and Orem area add the most people in plain headcount every year, and Lehi is consistently near the top of Utah's raw-growth list. So when you read that one city is the fastest-growing, check which yardstick is behind it. A suburb can be the percentage champion and still add fewer total people than a big city that barely moves the percentage needle. Both numbers are true. They are just answering slightly different questions, and it is worth knowing which one a headline picked.
The St. George story
Why Southern Utah keeps making the national lists.
The city rankings sit up north, but the metro rankings tell the Southern Utah story, and that is the one I watch from the ground in Iron and Washington county. Here is what the recent numbers show for the St. George area, all from Census Bureau estimates reported in spring 2026. St. George's growth carries real costs too, and I look at whether the pace crosses into growing too fast for water, roads, and schools in the companion guide.
A top-ten metro in the country
The St. George metro area, which is Washington County, ranked eighth among all U.S. metros for growth, adding about 5,200 residents, roughly 2.5 percent, in the year to July 2025. It was the only Western metro to crack the national top ten, a spot it has held or led for several years running.
Fast on both yardsticks
St. George is unusual because it scores high on percentage and on raw numbers at once, and the city itself sat fourth on Utah's percent list for 2025. Most places lead on one measure or the other. Washington County tends to show up strong on both, which is why it keeps drawing national attention.
The long-run pattern
This is not a one-year blip. Between 2010 and 2020 the St. George area was among the very fastest-growing metros in the nation by the decennial census, and the pace has held since. The draws people cite are the climate, the red-rock setting, and lower housing costs than the coastal West.
Growth has a cost side
Fast growth strains water supply, roads, and schools, and Washington County talks openly about all three. That is the honest other half of the story, and it is worth reading the deeper Southern Utah growth guide for how the strain and the opportunity balance out.
What it means for buyers
What fast growth actually does to your search.
Growth is not just a trivia answer. It shapes what you can buy and how. In the fastest-growing cities, a large share of what is for sale is new construction, because builders follow the growth onto open land, so Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, and the western edges of St. George and Washington carry a steady supply of brand-new homes and whole new neighborhoods still filling in. If you want a newer home with modern finishes, these markets tend to have the deepest inventory of exactly that, sometimes with builder standing inventory you can move into quickly.
The trade-offs are real and worth planning around. Fast-growing areas often mean living next to active construction for a while, roads and services that are still catching up to the rooftops, and longer commutes if the jobs have not moved out as fast as the housing. On price, rapid demand can push values up, though a strong pace of new building can also keep a market better supplied than a landlocked town. None of that is a reason to avoid these cities, it is a reason to go in with your eyes open: tour at different times of day, ask what is planned on the empty parcels nearby, and weigh a new-build in a growing suburb against an established home closer to the job center. If you tell me what you are optimizing for, I can point you at the version of growth that fits.
Reading the number
Why the fastest-growing city changes every year.
The name at the top of this list is not fixed, and you should expect it to move. Population estimates are re-released every spring, each covering a fresh twelve-month window, so a city that leads one year can slip the next simply because a big subdivision finished and the next one has not broken ground yet. Small cities are especially jumpy on the percentage measure, because one large project is a big share of a small base. That is why I date every figure on this page hard, and why a two-year-old article naming the fastest-growing city can be quietly out of step with the current release.
The other thing to watch is the source. Federal Census Bureau estimates and the University of Utah's state estimates use different methods and can name different leaders in the same year, as they did in 2025 with Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs. Neither is wrong. When a fastest-growing claim matters to a decision you are making, check who published it, what year and window it covers, and whether it is measuring percent or raw people. Once those line up, the reputable sources tell a consistent story: the fastest growth in Utah is concentrated in a handful of Utah County and Washington County cities, and it has been for years.
Buying in a growing market
Growth on a website, and growth on the ground.
A ranking tells you where people are moving. It does not tell you what is actually for sale there this week, or whether the growth is helping or hurting your particular search. That is the part I can read for you.
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The current pace, not last year's headline. I can pull what a specific city is really doing right now, how much new construction is on the market, and how fast homes are moving, so you are planning around today's market instead of an article from two springs ago.
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Southern Utah, watched closely. St. George and Washington are in my backyard. I can tell you which neighborhoods are still filling in, where the new phases are opening, and what the growth is doing to prices, from the market rather than a national list.
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New-build or established, told straight. Fast-growing cities are heavy on new construction, which is great for some buyers and not for others. I will give you the honest trade-offs on both so the choice fits your life, not a sales pitch.
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Statewide, with a partner. In Southern Utah I am your agent. For a fast-growing city up north like Eagle Mountain or Saratoga Springs, I connect you with a partner agent I trust in that market and stay involved through the search.
Questions, answered
What people ask about Utah's growth.
By the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates, released in May 2026, Eagle Mountain in Utah County was Utah's fastest-growing city, adding more than 5,000 residents for a growth rate of about 8.5 percent in the year ending July 2025. That ranked ninth among all U.S. cities of at least 20,000 people. Saratoga Springs finished a close second on the federal list. The University of Utah's separate count for the same period actually ranked Saratoga Springs first, so the two Utah County neighbors trade the top spot depending on the source. These figures are restated every spring, so confirm the current release before relying on them.
It depends on whose numbers you read, and they are genuinely close. For the year ending July 2025, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked Eagle Mountain first in Utah at about 8.5 percent, with Saratoga Springs second. The University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, using its own method for the same period, ranked Saratoga Springs first at about 8.4 percent, with Eagle Mountain second. Both cities sit on the open land west of Utah Lake, both are adding thousands of residents a year, and both lead the state. The exact order changes with the source and the year.
Percent growth divides new residents by the size the city started at, so smaller cities with room to build post the highest rates. That is why Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs top the percentage list. Numeric growth counts raw people added, and there the large, already-built metros of the Wasatch Front lead, since Salt Lake County and the Provo and Orem area add the most people in plain headcount each year. A suburb can be the percentage champion while a big city adds more total residents. When you read a fastest-growing claim, check which measure it used.
Yes. The St. George metro area, which is Washington County, ranked eighth among all U.S. metros for growth in the year to July 2025, adding about 5,200 residents, roughly 2.5 percent, per Census Bureau estimates reported in spring 2026. It was the only Western metro in the national top ten. This is a long pattern, not a one-year spike: the area was among the fastest-growing metros in the nation between 2010 and 2020 by the decennial census, and the pace has held since. The commonly cited draws are the climate, the scenery, and lower housing costs than the coastal West.
The whole state grew about 1.3 percent in the year ending July 2025, reaching an estimated population in the mid-three-million range, according to the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. That statewide pace is far below the double-digit rates you see in the fastest individual cities, which is the point: growth is concentrated, not spread evenly. A handful of Utah County and Washington County cities carry most of the fast growth, while much of the rest of the state grows slowly or holds steady. Confirm the latest annual estimate, since these are updated every year.
Because it shapes what is for sale and how you shop. Fast-growing cities carry a large share of new construction, since builders follow the growth onto open land, so places like Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, and the western edges of St. George and Washington tend to have deep inventory of newer homes and whole neighborhoods still filling in. The trade-offs are active construction nearby, roads and services catching up to the rooftops, and sometimes longer commutes. On price, strong demand can push values up, though steady new building can keep a market better supplied. It is worth weighing a new-build in a growing suburb against an established home closer to the jobs.
Keep exploring
Thinking about buying in one of Utah's fastest-growing cities?
I am Scott Buehler, and I watch these markets from the ground, not just the annual rankings. Tell me which city has your attention and I will show you what is actually being built and sold there right now, and what the growth is doing to prices and choices. No pressure, and no obligation.
Not in Southern Utah? For a fast-growing city up north, I will connect you with a partner agent I trust in that market and stay involved through your search.