USDA eligibility in Utah: the income limits and the property map
Two gates decide USDA eligibility for a Utah buyer: your household income and where the home sits relative to the Wasatch Front. Both trip people up, because Utah has the nation's largest households and a metro corridor from Ogden through Salt Lake City to Provo that is off the USDA map. Here is how each gate reads in Utah.
Utah income limits: why the 5-to-8-person bracket carries the state
USDA caps eligibility at 115% of the area median income, and nearly every Utah county uses the same statewide floor: $122,800 for a household of one to four people and $162,100 for five to eight, effective July 13, 2026. From Cache County in the north to Washington County around St. George, that pair of numbers is what a Utah buyer measures against.
Here is the Utah twist most content misses. Utah has the largest average household in the country, near 2.9 people and about 3.3 in Tooele County, so far more local buyers count five or more people than in any other state. The moment a Utah household reaches five members, the limit jumps from $122,800 to $162,100. A dual-earner family of five or six in Grantsville or Nephi grossing $130,000 to $150,000 sits comfortably under the larger-household limit, even though the one-to-four figure would push them out.
USDA also counts the income of every adult living in the Utah home, not solely the borrowers on the note. A working adult child in a Provo-area household, or a partner you leave off the mortgage, still counts. USDA then allows deductions for dependents and childcare that can pull an over-the-line Utah family back under, which is why a quick self-check misfires in both directions.
| Utah household size | 2026 USDA income limit (effective July 13, 2026) |
|---|---|
| 1-4 people | $122,800 |
| 5-8 people | $162,100 |
Confirm your Utah county's figure on the USDA income eligibility tool. With Utah's median household income near $96,658 (Census, 2024), plenty of buyers land close to the line, and that is exactly when running the deductions properly before you rule USDA out pays off.
Utah property eligibility: the Wasatch Front line
The dividing line in Utah is the Wasatch Front. USDA rules out the urbanized corridor from Ogden through Salt Lake City to Provo and Orem, covering the Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah county cores, and it rules out St. George and the Park City resort area in Summit County. Everything USDA considers rural in character, generally under 35,000 people, stays on the map.
What surprises Utah buyers is how close the eligible edge runs to the metro. Grantsville sits about 35 miles west of Salt Lake City and qualifies; Santaquin, Nephi, and Mona south of Provo qualify; Tremonton, Perry, and Willard north of Ogden qualify. The map runs on 2020-census boundaries, and fast-growing Utah exurbs keep flipping ineligible as they cross the population cap, which is why the Spanish Fork and Payson cores no longer clear it.
Never trust a Utah ZIP code for this. Tooele city, at 38,405 people, is over USDA's roughly 35,000 rural cap and ineligible, while Grantsville a few miles away in the same county is fine. Enter the full Utah property address into the USDA property eligibility map, or use the checker below and we will read the Utah map for you.
Eligible Utah towns, with the numbers
These Utah towns are generally on the USDA map, though you still verify the exact address. Populations, median household income, and median home value are from the Census (2024):
| Utah town | Area | Population | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grantsville | West of Salt Lake City (Tooele County) | 14,341 | $488,200 |
| Santaquin | South of Provo (Utah/Juab) | 16,436 | $465,100 |
| Nephi | Juab County | 6,885 | $416,000 |
| Mona | Juab County | 1,674 | $483,700 |
| Tremonton | North of Ogden (Box Elder) | 11,477 | $364,900 |
| Perry | Box Elder County | 5,843 | $465,100 |
| Willard | Box Elder County | 2,212 | $451,300 |
With Utah median home values near $545,200, these eligible towns run from roughly $365,000 in Tremonton to nearly $490,000 in Grantsville, and USDA's $0-down financing is often the only no-down path there outside a VA loan. Confirm any Utah address with the checker below.
We geocode the address and read the live USDA eligibility map. Informational only. USDA makes the final determination on a complete application.
The third gate: occupancy and property type
USDA is for owner-occupied primary residences only, so a Utah buyer cannot use it for a rental, a Park City vacation condo, or an income property, and it is meant for people who do not already own a suitable home nearby. Eligible Utah property types include existing homes, new construction, condos and PUDs, and new manufactured homes titled as real property. An existing manufactured home on a Sanpete County lot generally does not qualify unless it already carries a USDA loan.
Utah Housing Corporation assistance alongside USDA
Utah Housing Corporation, the state housing finance agency most people call UHC, runs loan programs that pair a first mortgage with a down-payment-assistance second, and that second can layer onto a USDA loan for an eligible Utah buyer. Because USDA already finances 100% of the price in a town like Tremonton or Nephi, the UHC assistance is typically aimed at closing costs rather than a down payment.
One caution that trips up Utah buyers: UHC opens and pauses individual programs as its funding cycles turn, and its DPA loan is a repayable or forgivable second, not a grant. Which UHC options are open in a given month, and which first-lien types they pair with, shift over time, so confirm the current lineup and terms directly on the Utah Housing Corporation site before you build a plan around the pairing.
Outdated Utah USDA numbers still circulating
A lot of USDA content aimed at Utah buyers is stale, and it costs them. If a page shows the 1-4-person income limit as $119,850, it predates the July 13, 2026 increase to $122,800 (Procedure Notice 657), and $112,450 is older still. If it tells a Utah buyer the guarantee fee is 2.75% or 3.5%, that is the statutory ceiling, not the 1.0% upfront and 0.35% annual actually charged since 2016. And if it claims USDA caps the loan amount, it is confusing the Guaranteed program a Utah lender originates with the separate Section 502 Direct program. Current figures are what we build every Utah file on.
USDA eligibility questions
What is the 2026 USDA income limit in Utah?
The 2026 USDA income limit in Utah is $122,800 for a household of one to four people and $162,100 for five to eight, effective July 13, 2026. Nearly every Utah county, from Cache in the north to Washington County around St. George, uses this same statewide floor. Because Utah families run large, the five-to-eight bracket at $162,100 is the number that decides eligibility for many Wasatch Front and rural buyers.
Why does household size matter so much for USDA eligibility in Utah?
Utah has the largest average household in the country, near 2.9 people and about 3.3 in Tooele County, so more buyers land in USDA's five-to-eight-person bracket here than in other states. That bracket lifts the limit from $122,800 to $162,100. A family of five or six in Grantsville or Nephi grossing $130,000 to $150,000 clears the larger-household limit even though the one-to-four limit would rule them out.
Can I get a USDA loan on the Wasatch Front?
Not in the urban Wasatch Front cores. The corridor from Ogden through Salt Lake City to Provo and Orem is off the USDA map, and so is St. George. Eligible ground sits at the edges: Grantsville west of Salt Lake City, Santaquin and Nephi south of Provo, and Tremonton, Perry, and Willard north of Ogden. Always check the exact Utah address, since the line cuts through growing towns like Spanish Fork and Payson.
Which Utah counties are USDA-eligible?
Most of rural Utah qualifies: Box Elder around Tremonton, Juab around Nephi, Sanpete, the eastern Uinta Basin around Vernal, and the southern red-rock counties, plus the rural edges of Tooele and Cache. The Wasatch Front cores in Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah counties are ineligible, as is Summit County around Park City. Confirm any Utah address, because the boundary runs through the edges of towns like Tooele and Spanish Fork.
Does Utah Housing Corporation down-payment assistance work with a USDA loan?
Utah Housing Corporation, the state housing finance agency known as UHC, pairs its loan programs with a down-payment-assistance second that can layer onto a USDA loan. Because USDA already finances 100% of the price for eligible Utah buyers, that UHC assistance usually can go toward closing costs rather than a down payment. UHC opens and pauses individual programs over time, so confirm current UHC terms before you count on the pairing.