Northwestern Salt Lake County is home to one of every 10 Utah residents. And that portion of the state’s most populous county has 42% of the county’s overall homes and 16% of all housing stock in Utah.

Those are just some of the numbers derived from the latest fact sheet from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. The report focuses on housing in the northwest county cities of Kearns, Magna, western Salt Lake City, Taylorsville and West Valley City.

As of 2024, housing in northwest Salt Lake County included 68,472 single-family dwellings, 23,568 apartments, and 10,888 townhomes. Kearns had the highest percentage of single-family  homes, apartments were most numerous on Salt Lake City’s west side, and Taylorsville and Magna had the largest share of condominiums and townhomes, respectively. West Valley City had the largest number of overall residential dwellings at more than 44,000.

Homes in Magna grew at the fastest rate in the northwest county at 23% between 2020 and 2024. Kearns and Taylorsville, with the least amount of available developable land saw its housing supply expand by only 1% during the same period.

Magna has the newest housing stock in the northwest quadrant with a median build year of 1992. Westside Salt Lake City has the oldest with half of its housing constructed before 1973 and half of it after. In between are Kearns (1978), Taylorsville (1980) and West Valley City (1983).

The median rent was about the same in all northwestern cities. Taylorsville was the highest at $2,011 as of two years ago. The other municipalities ranged from $1,920 in western Salt Lake City to $1,979 in Magna.

Magna residents were the most cost-burdened when it comes to how much they spend on a place to live. Six in 10 Magna renters, or 59%, reported spending more than 30% of their income on housing, which is how “cost-burdened" is defined in this case. Kearns renters were the least cost-burdened with 44% exceeding the 30% threshold, which matches the statewide average.

The Gardner report also found that home prices in the northwest valley were lower on average than Salt Lake County and the state as a whole.

Finally, the fact sheet points out that 70% of northwest county people own their homes. The rest are renting. Kearns and Magna have the highest share of owner-occupied homes. Western Salt Lake City has the largest number of renters.

The fact sheet in northwest valley housing coincides with the early-stage construction of the University of Utah’s first off-campus hospital in West Valley City. The data in the report is “designed to inform local decision makers and community partners” as they prepare for the medical campus to be operated by University of Utah Health.