Back to the Real Salt Lake Newsfeed

How many local governments does Utah have? Census Bureau counts 619

The U.S. Census Bureau is known for counting people. But on Thursday, it also released a census of all the local governments in America.

It found that in 2017, Utah had 619 local governments — from counties to cities, school districts, water districts, cemetery districts and more. Of course, all of them collect taxes and/or fees.

Back in 1942 — more than 75 years earlier — Utah had a mere 303 such local governments.

For the record, here is what the latest census of local governments found for Utah:

• 29 counties. Salt Lake County is the largest with 1.