Davis County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in northern

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 362,679, making it Utah's third-most populous county. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Farmington, and its largest city by both population and area is Layton. Davis County is part of the Ogden- Clearfield, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

- Provo- Orem, UT Combined Statistical Area.

History

The legislature of the provisional

State of Deseret The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation , contemporaneously , as recorded in the Deseret alphabet spelling 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻) was a proposed U.S. state, state of the United States promoted by leaders of the Church of Jesus Chri ...

defined the county in an October 5, 1850, act, which also designated Farmington as the seat due to its location midway between boundaries at the

Weber River The Weber River ( ) (Shoshone: Ho-o-pah) is a long river of northern Utah, United States. It begins in the northwest of the Uinta Mountains and empties into the Great Salt Lake. The Weber River was named for American fur trapper John Henr ...

on the north and the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

on the south. It was named for Daniel C. Davis, a captain in the Mormon Battalion. The county boundaries were altered in 1852, 1854, 1855, and in 1862. In 1880 the county gained part of the islands and waters of

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

that had previously been attached to Salt Lake County. The county boundary has remained unchanged since that time. During its first 50 years, Davis County grew slowly. With the advent of the Utah Central Rail Road in 1870, a transition to mechanized agriculture and a surge of commerce, banking, improved roads, new water systems, and electrification of homes began. However, by 1940, the population was barely 16,000. With the establishment of

Hill Air Force Base Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in Davis County, Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adja ...

in northern Davis County and southern Weber County, there was a surge in civilian employment after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The county doubled in population between 1940 and 1950 and doubled again between 1950 and 1960 as part of the nationwide

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

boom that was occurring at the time. By 1990 there were 188,000 residents, and in 2000, there were 239,000. As of 2020, the county population is above 360,000.

Geography

Davis County has an area of , of which is land and (53%) is water. It is Utah's smallest county by land area and second smallest by total area. The county lies generally between the

on the west and the

Wasatch Range The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...

on the east, which rises to a height of in the county at Thurston Peak. The Great Salt Lake is surrounded by

marshland In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

and

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s, and lies at an average

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of approximately , varying depending on the water level, which can lead to drastic changes in the lake size due to its shallowness. Davis County includes Antelope Island, the lake's largest island. The entire island is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

, designated to protect natural scenery and especially wildlife on the island, which includes

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

, pronghorn, and a

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

herd. The inhabited portion of Davis County between the lake and the mountain range is called the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a major metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from Santaquin in the south to Pleasant View in the n ...

, a narrow stretch of land that restricts north–south transportation in the county.

Adjacent counties

* Weber County - north * Morgan County - east * Salt Lake County - south * Tooele County - west * Box Elder County - northwest

Protected areas

* Antelope Island State Park * Crystal West Unit Farmington Bay (part) * Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area * Howard Slough Waterfowl Management Area * Wasatch-Cache National Forest (part) ''Davis County UT'' Google Maps (accessed March 30, 2019)
/ref>

Lakes

* Adams Reservoir * Farmington Bay * Hobbs Reservoir * Holmes Reservoir

Climate

Eastern parts of Davis County experience a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dsa''), while western parts may experience a

mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(''Csa''). Summers are dry and hot and winters are cold and wet, but rarely frigid. Snow is frequent during winter, with up to annually on high bench areas in the east and at least on the valley floor. Annual precipitation averages between in the county, with spring being the wettest season and summer the driest. Summers are hot, with several days each year averaging above . However, the humidity is low, making for comparatively comfortable temperatures. In winter, temperatures sometimes drop below , but rarely for extended periods of time. Compared to Salt Lake County to the south, the weather in Davis County is extreme.

Lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...

s hit the southern portion of the county harder, and even in non-lake-effect storms, the lack of a

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

in Davis County (much of Salt Lake County lies in the rain shadow of the

Oquirrh Mountains The Oquirrh Mountains ( ) is a mountain range that runs north–south for approximately 30 miles (50 km) to form the west side of Utah's Salt Lake Valley, separating it from Tooele Valley. The range runs from northwestern Utah County– ...

) means that storms often hit Davis County harder. In addition, canyon winds from the east can sometimes cause devastating wind damage, and wind gusts above have been reported. This occurs when a powerful high pressure system is over

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, and is a frequent occurrence. Extreme wind events, however, seem to have declined in frequency in recent years.

Demographics

2020 census

According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 362,679 people in Davis County with a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 1,116.9 people per square mile (431.2/km²). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 292,458 (80.6%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 4,008 (1.1%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1,464 (0.4%) Native American, 6,907 (1.9%) Asian, 3,204 (0.9%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1,244 (0.3%) from other races, and 14,099 (3.9%) from two or more races. 39,295 (10.8%) people were Hispanic or Latino. There were 182,251 (50.25%) males and 180,428 (49.75%) females, and the population distribution by age was 116,295 (32.1%) under the age of 18, 207,510 (57.2%) from 18 to 64, and 38,874 (10.7%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 31.4 years. There were 111,552 households in Davis County with an average size of 3.25 of which 88,909 (79.7%) were families and 22,643 (20.3%) were non-families. Among all families, 72,995 (65.4%) were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, 5,369 (4.8%) were male householders with no spouse, and 10,545 (9.5%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 18,004 (16.1%) were a single person living alone and 4,639 (4.2%) were two or more people living together. 50,193 (45.0%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 84,985 (76.2%) of households were owner-occupied while 26,567 (23.8%) were renter-occupied. The median income for a Davis County household was $87,570 and the median family income was $96,482, with a

per-capita income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

of $32,819. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $63,558 and for females $42,136. 5.3% of the population and 4.2% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. In terms of education attainment, out of the 205,899 people in Davis County 25 years or older, 8,458 (4.1%) had not completed high school, 43,575 (21.2%) had a

high school diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

or equivalency, 75,283 (36.6%) had some college or

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

, 53,067 (25.8%) had a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

, and 25,516 (12.4%) had a graduate or

professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 306,479 people, 93,545 households, and 76,205 families in the county. The

was . There were 97,570 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.04%

, 1.21%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 0.46% Native American, 1.77% Asian, 0.59%

, 3.24% from other races, and 2.69% from two or more races. 8.42% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 93,545 households, out of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.99% were

living together, 9.59% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.54% were non-families. 15.23% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.27% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.24 and the average family size was 3.63. The county population contained 37.23% under the age of 20, 6.56% from 20 to 24, 28.13% from 25 to 44, 19.92% from 45 to 64, and 8.15% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.85 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.09 males.

Law and government

A three-member board of commissioners is the county's governing body. The commissioners are elected to staggered four-year terms. They are responsible for all county services and operations. They approve, adopt, and amend the budget; they also serve as the legislative body and regulate business licensing in the county's unincorporated areas. The county commissioners (as of 2021) are: * Bob J. Stevenson, chair (term ends January 5, 2027) * Randy B. Elliott, vice chair (term ends January 6, 2025) * Lorene Miner Kamalu (term ends January 5, 2027) Other elected offices include the County Attorney, Assessor, Clerk/Auditor, Sheriff, Recorder, Surveyor, and Treasurer. * The assessor is responsible for the valuing of all real property in the county. The current assessor is Dale Peterson (as of March 2018). * The clerk/auditor serves as the county's chief financial and budget officer. The current Clerk/Auditor is Curtis Koch (as of March 2018). * The treasurer is responsible for collection and investing of county funds. The current Treasurer is Mark Altom (as of March 2019). Davis County voters are traditionally Republican. In no national election since 1948 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

Economy

Davis County is often characterized as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

. According to the Census Bureau's 2004 American Community Survey, 42.3% of the population work in another county. South Davis County commuters who work in Salt Lake County frequently encounter commuting time traffic bottlenecks between Davis and

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

Counties. The Legacy Parkway and the ''

FrontRunner ''FrontRunner'' is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter railway operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) that runs along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from Ogden Central station in central Weber County, Utah, ...

'' commuter rail project were built to alleviate this problem. The commuter rail stations in the county have spurred plans for extensive transit-oriented development (TOD), including the Station Park development in Farmington. Farmington is also the home of the Lagoon Amusement Park, the primary amusement park on the Wasatch Front. Davis County's largest employer is

. Earnings of civilians at Hill AFB are almost double the state average. Hill AFB accounts for about 12% of the economy of Davis County and about 2.6% of the economy of Utah. Hill AFB provides employment for nearly 23,000 military and civilian personnel (approximately 4,500 active duty, 1,200 reservists, 13,000 federal civil servants, and 4,000 civilian contractors). Other large employers include Davis School District, Lagoon Amusement Park, and Lifetime Products.

Education

Public education in Davis County is provided by the Davis School District. There are currently 59 elementary schools, 16 junior high schools, 9 high schools, and 3 alternative schools in the school district. The high schools are as follows, showing where they are located: * Bountiful High School - Bountiful * Clearfield High School - Clearfield * Davis High School - Kaysville * Layton High School - Layton * Northridge High School - Layton * Syracuse High School - Syracuse * Farmington High School - Farmington * Viewmont High School - Bountiful
Woods Cross High School
- Woods Cross The campus of

Davis Technical College Davis Technical College (Davis Tech) is a Public college, public technical college in Kaysville, Utah. It provides competency-based education in an open-entry, open-exit environment which prepares over 6,000 high school and adult students with c ...

is in Kaysville.

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

owns and operates the Utah Botanical Center in Kaysville, which includes an education center.

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

also operates campuses in Layton and Farmington.

Transportation

The most important road in the county is

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

, which runs north–south through the center of the county. US-89 enters parallel to I-15 from Salt Lake County to the south and runs north through North Salt Lake and Bountiful as a city road before merging with I-15. It re-emerges in Farmington near the Lagoon Amusement Park, heading along the eastern benches on the slopes of the Wasatch Range, entering Weber County near South Weber. The Utah Department of Transportation is currently (2019) upgrading US-89 to a freeway through eastern Layton north to its interchange with

I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts), passing through New York and Connecticut {{road disambiguation ...

near the Weber County border. Congestion is a significant problem in the county, as east–west transportation is restricted by the narrow urban corridor and many of its citizens commute south to Salt Lake County. To relieve congestion in the county, the Legacy Parkway began construction in 2006. Construction began near the US-89/I-15 interchange in Farmington in 2004, but was soon halted due to a lawsuit filed by

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

s, who were concerned that the road would harm marshlands along the eastern edge of the Great Salt Lake. They requested an independent evaluation for completeness of the

environmental impact statement An environmental impact statement (EIS), under United States environmental law, is a document required by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An E ...

. A settlement was reached in 2005 and the final injunction was lifted in 2006. The Legacy Parkway opened in 2008, running from the US-89/I-15 interchange in Farmington southward to connect with I-215 near the border with Salt Lake County. An extensive trail system, wetland protection measures, and landscaping were implemented along the highway in response to the environmentalist's concerns, in addition to a lower speed limit and a ban of semi-trailer trucks on the highway. However, this compromise will expire in 2020, and the roadway is expected to begin functioning under normal Interstate System regulations (i.e. trucks and higher speed limits allowed).Davis County fights to keep Legacy Parkway closed off to trucks (KSL News, 21 March 2019)
/ref> In 2008, the

Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Park City, U ...

opened the ''

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

line from Salt Lake City north to Ogden, serving the length of Davis County with stations in Woods Cross, Farmington, Layton, and Clearfield.

Major highways

Interstate 84 * I-215

Interstate 215 * US 89

U.S. Route 89 * Utah SR 67

State Route 67 - ''Legacy Parkway'' * Utah SR 68

State Route 68 - ''Redwood Road'' * Utah SR 177

State Route 177 - ''West Davis Corridor'' * Utah SR 193

State Route 193 - ''Bernard Fisher Highway''

Communities

Davis County Utah incorporated and unincorporated areas

Cities

* Bountiful * Centerville * Clearfield * Clinton * Farmington * Fruit Heights * Kaysville * Layton * North Salt Lake * South Weber *

Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

* Syracuse * West Bountiful *

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

* Woods Cross

Townships

* Mutton Hollow

References

External links

*
Davis County Visitor and Relocation Guide, Davis Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control 1850 establishments in Utah Territory Populated places established in 1850 Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area Wasatch Front