Wasatch 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 the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 34,788. 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 ...

and largest city is Heber City. The county was named for a

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute people, a Native American people of the Great Basin * Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah * Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah * Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern ...

word meaning "

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

" or "low place in the high mountains". Wasatch County is part of the Heber, UT Micropolitan 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 first settlers were

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who Human migration, migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the ...

, in 1859, settling near present Heber City, Midway, and Charleston. On January 17, 1862, the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

legislature created the county, annexing areas from Great Salt Lake, Green River, Sanpete, Summit, and Utah counties. Heber was selected as the county seat. Wasatch in Ute means "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range". Heber City was named for Mormon Apostle Heber C. Kimball. The county boundaries were altered in 1880 and 1884, and then on January 4, 1915, the eastern portion was partitioned off to become Duchesne County. The Wasatch County boundaries have remained unchanged since 1915.

Geography

Heber Valley has a relatively cool climate since it is mountain-ringed, and over half the land is above sea level. The average annual precipitation is about . The county is divided into two watersheds—the Colorado and the Great Basin drainage systems.''Wasatch County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 1 April 2019)
/ref> Flowing from the East are Daniels, Lake Fork, and Center creeks. From the north and northeast is the Provo River. Flowing from the west is Snake Creek. The county's highest point is the west slope of Murdock Mountain in the

Uinta Mountains The Uinta Mountains ( ) are an east-west trending mountain range in northeastern Utah extending a short distance into northwest Colorado and slightly into southwestern Wyoming in the United States. As a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, they are u ...

, at ASL. Wasatch County has a total area of , of which is land and (2.5%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Route 6 * U.S. Route 40 * U.S. Route 189 * Utah State Route 32 * Utah State Route 35 * Utah State Route 113 * Utah State Route 248 * Utah State Route 319

Adjacent counties

* Salt Lake County - northwest * Summit County - north * Duchesne County - east * Utah County - southwest

Protected areas

Ashley National Forest Ashley National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest located in northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. Within the Forest's bounds are (with in Utah and in Wyoming) of vast forests, lakes, and mountains, with elevati ...

(part) * Currant Creek Campground (USFS) * Currant Creek Wildlife Management Area (part) * Deer Creek State Park * Rock Cliff Campground (Utah State Park) * Soldier Creek Recreational Area * Uinta National Forest (part) * Wasatch Mountain State Park *

Wasatch National Forest Wasatch National Forest was established as the Wasatch Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in Utah on August 16, 1906 with to the east of Salt Lake City and Provo. It became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 Grantsv ...

(part) * Wildcat Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Lakes

* Currant Creek Reservoir * Deer Creek Reservoir * Jordanelle Reservoir * Strawberry Reservoir * Witts Lake

Demographics

2020 census

According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 34,788 people in Wasatch 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 29.6 people per square mile (11.4/km²). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 28,168 (81.0%)

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 ...

, 141 (0.4%)

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 ...

, 67 (0.2%) Native American, 347 (1.0%) Asian, 41 (0.1%)

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 ...

, 65 (0.2%) from other races, and 913 (2.6%) from two or more races. 5,046 (14.5%) people were Hispanic or Latino. There were 17,665 (50.78%) males and 17,123 (49.22%) females, and the population distribution by age was 10,578 (30.4%) under the age of 18, 19,617 (56.4%) from 18 to 64, and 4,593 (13.2%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 35.3 years. There were 11,040 households in Wasatch County with an average size of 3.15 of which 8,770 (79.4%) were families and 2,270 (20.6%) were non-families. Among all families, 7,325 (66.3%) 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 ...

, 543 (4.9%) were male householders with no spouse, and 902 (8.2%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 1,772 (16.1%) were a single person living alone and 498 (4.5%) were two or more people living together. 4,578 (41.5%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 8,421 (76.3%) of households were owner-occupied while 2,619 (23.7%) were renter-occupied. The median income for a Wasatch County household was $85,807 and the median family income was $99,014, with a per-capita income of $38,622. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $62,837 and for females $37,394. 4.8% of the population and 3.4% 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 19,926 people in Wasatch County 25 years or older, 920 (4.6%) had not completed high school, 4,099 (20.6%) 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, 6,207 (31.2%) 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 ...

, 5,742 (28.8%) 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 2,958 (14.8%) 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 23,530 people, 4,743 households, and 3,870 families in the county. The

was . There were 9,840 (2009) housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.4%

, 0.3%

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 ...

, 0.5% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1%

, and 1.4% from two or more races. 13.5% 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 7,287 households, out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.70% were

living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 20.1% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.18 and the average family size was 3.19. The county population contained 36.3% under the age of 20, 5.2% from 20 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.6 years. For every 100 females there were 103.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.

Communities

Cities

* Heber City (county seat) * Midway * Park City (part)
Text list
/ref>

Towns

* Charleston * Daniel * Hideout *

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

* Interlaken * Wallsburg

Census-designated places

* Timber Lakes

Unincorporated communities

* Center Creek * Deer Mountain * Mayflower Mountain * Soldier Creek Estates * Soldier Summit * Wildwood (part)

Former communities

* Hailstone * Jordanelle * Keetley

Politics and government

The county is governed by a seven-member

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

with an appointed county manager. Wasatch County has traditionally voted Republican. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

Education

All areas of the county are in the Wasatch County School District.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 40.33, -111.16, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-UT_source:UScensus1990 1862 establishments in Utah Territory Populated places established in 1862