Salt Lake County apartment rents surge amid COVID-19 pandemic

The average asking rent in Salt Lake County increased by nearly 11% each year during the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute report found.

• From 2010–2020 the average annual rent increase in the county was 2.6%.

By the numbers: Between 2020 and the first half of 2022, the median asking price of a one-bedroom apartment in Salt Lake County rose from $1,060 to $1,343.

• Studios in Salt Lake County climbed from $971 in 2020 to $1,169 in 2022.
• Steep rent increases during the same time period were also seen in Utah, Davis and Weber counties.

Why it matters: Utah residents being priced out of the state's housing market is surging demand for rental housing, researchers wrote in the report.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake County is also in the midst of an unprecedented apartment boom.

• There are more than 24,000 housing units under construction throughout the Wasatch Front.
• About a quarter of those projects are located in Salt Lake County.