West Valley City has highest population in Utah of pre-retirees
Mar 18, 2026 08:17PM ● By Tom Haraldsen
A new study shows that West Valley City has the largest population of residents in Utah who are about to retire—11% of those ages 55-64. (File photo City Journals)
A new study shows that West Valley City has the largest population of residents in Utah who are about to retire—11% of those ages 55-64. But among the 317 largest cities in the nation studied by SmartAsset, that ranks only 187th.
Provo is the No. 1 city in Utah for the number of “high income” pre-retirees, those who earn at least $200,000 annually, at 26%. The city also has the least number of pre-retirees in Utah, totaling just 5%.
SmartAsset said that one of the most important decisions in someone’s financial life and beyond can be whom they choose as a partner. On average, 40.1% of adults in large cities have found their partner, while another 42.5% have yet to make that decision and remain single.
The balance may be inherently off, with an average of 107 single men for every 100 single women in large cities across the U.S. And then, an average of 10.6% of adults are divorced—a costly event financially, mentally and emotionally. Many factors may influence widespread local trends on singlehood and marriage, and many people may include this cultural influence in their decision on where to live, how to market their local business and more.
Detroit and Boston have the most singles. Detroit claims the title of most-single city this year with 57.4% of adults never having married. Another 23% are currently married, with 10.8% of adults divorced. Boston ranks second with 56.6% of the population having never married. In this case, 30.3% are married and 7.8% are divorced. In Detroit and Boston, there are 93.8 and 93.4 single men for every 100 single women, respectively.
Marriage is most prevalent in Fremont, California, where 63.8% of adults are married, with just 26.4% never having married. These extremes are also coupled with the lowest divorce rate studywide at 4.8%. Marriage is also relatively common in Port St. Lucie, Florida, where 53.3% of adults are married, and Colorado Springs, Colorado at 52.6%.
These cities have the most single men. For the 26.4% of singles in Fremont, there are 136.7 men per 100 women, the widest disparity in all large cities. Paradise, Nevada also has a high disparity at 127.1 single men per 100 women, and a larger supply of singles at 43.3% of the population. Fayetteville, North Carolina has the third highest rate of single men at 126.9 per 100 women and a 39.4% singlehood rate.
Washington, D.C., has the most single women. There are only 84.5 single men for every 100 single women in the nation’s capital, with 55.1% of adults being single (fourth most studywide). Mobile, Alabama also has a high rate of single women to men with 89.1 men per 100 women, and a similar rate of 89.6 per 100 in Baltimore, Maryland.
This city with the highest divorce rate is Spokane, Washington, where 15.0% of adults are divorced and another 1.6% are separated. Other large cities with relatively high divorce rates include Albuquerque, New Mexico (14.9%); Springfield, Missouri (14.8%); Fort Lauderdale, Florida (14.6%); and Columbus, Georgia (38.0%).

