Local officials in Utah have issued permits for hundreds of thousands of new, non-apartment units in the past 30 years.

The Salt Lake Tribune analyzed a database maintained by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and the Ivory-Boyer Real Estate Center containing permits issued by location, date, construction type and building type going back to 1994.

Here’s a summary of three major trends:

1. Salt Lake and Utah counties top the list

About 46% of all the new permits have been issued in the two largest Wasatch Front counties, with 23.84% in Salt Lake County and 23.74% in Utah County.

Washington County was third with 12.98% of permits, followed by Davis and Weber Counties with 11.91% and 6.08% respectively.

The state’s 24 other counties — mostly Cache and Tooele — accounted for a combined 21.44%, though there’s no data for Daggett County since 2011.

2. A big boom in a smaller city

Though Washington County doesn’t have the most permits when compared to other counties, its largest municipality, St. George, was the single town to receive the most permits in Utah.

Between 1994 and September 2024, officials issued 25,280 permits for 28,152 units in duplexes, single-family detached homes, condos and townhomes, according to the Ivory-Boyer Construction Database.

That’s about 8,000 more than the next-highest city, South Jordan.

A builder in the area credited that to southern Utah’s weather.

3. The suburbs are growing

Most of the construction in the state has been in the suburbs of the major metropolitan areas of Salt Lake City and Provo-Orem. Besides the state’s biggest southern city, the most permits in the past three decades have been near those population hubs.

Leading cities include South Jordan, Lehi, Washington, Herriman, Saratoga Springs and West Valley City.

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for Redfin, said that’s common because the suburbs are where there’s land available.

It’s harder to get infill buildings approved in places like Salt Lake City that are mostly developed, she said, and “easier to come in and build cookie cutter on a big plot of land.”

Bonus: Search for your city or town

Use the searchable database below to see the total number of permits from 1994 to last September and by year for the past decade.

Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.