What it's like to live in Kearns
Kearns is a small city in Utah. The numbers below lay out what daily life there actually looks like.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Kearns deals with rent well above the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, college degree attainment below the national average, and a population that has been shrinking.
The not so good
- Rent well above the national average
- Air quality concerns
- Low college degree attainment
- Shrinking population
- High student-teacher ratio
- Cold winters
How Kearns compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Kearns
Based on Kearns's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$3,488
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $69,760 a year
- 48% of Kearns renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$74,740
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $37,370
- Homes cost 4.3× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 23% above US
$1,744/mo median rent
Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,744 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices run above average, with a median around $373,700. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.
Median home value $373,700 · 48% of renters cost-burdened
Job marketNear US average
3.9% unemployment
Unemployment here is 3.9%, close to the national average of 4.3%.
City-level (BLS)
Safety
179 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Kearns doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Unified Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 1405/100k · Policed by Unified Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
26 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 25.7 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 11% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 90°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 26°F and snow a regular occurrence. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 62% below US
14% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
10 public schools inside the boundary
There are 10 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 22:1, above the national average of 16:1.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Timpanogos Cave National Monument (21 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Nothing in Kearns's numbers stands out as a clear strength, and the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. A year of median rent ($1,744/mo) equals 24% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.
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