Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City
State capital
City of Salt Lake City[1]
Skyline of Downtown Salt Lake City Union Pacific Depot University of Utah Church Office Building TRAX light rail system Salt Lake Temple City and County Building Delta Center Utah State Capitol
Flag Seal
Nickname:  "The Crossroads of the West"
Interactive map of Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City Show map of Utah Salt Lake City Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°45′39″N 111°53′28″W / 40.76083°N 111.89111°W / 40.76083; -111.89111
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Salt Lake
Platted	1857 (1857)[2]
Named for	Great Salt Lake
Government
• Type	Strong Mayor–council
• Mayor	Erin Mendenhall (D)
Area [3]
• City	110.81 sq mi (286.99 km2)
• Land	110.34 sq mi (285.77 km2)
• Water	0.47 sq mi (1.22 km2)
Elevation [4]	4,265 ft (1,300 m)
Population  (2020)[5]
• City	200,133
• Rank	122nd in the United States 1st in Utah
• Density	1,797.52/sq mi (701.84/km2)
• Urban	1,178,533 (US: 41st)
• Urban density	3,923.0/sq mi (1,514.7/km2)
• Metro	1,257,936 (US: 47th)
• CSA	2,746,164 (US: 22nd)
Demonym	Salt Laker[6]
GDP [7][8]
• Salt Lake (County)	$111.0 billion (2022)
• Salt Lake City (MSA)	$135.4 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6
ZIP Codes	ZIP Codes[9] 84101–84128, 84130–84134, 84136, 84138–84139, 84141, 84143–84145, 84147–84148, 84150–84152, 84157–84158, 84165, 84170–84171, 84180, 84184, 84189–84190, 84199
Area codes	801, 385
FIPS code	49-67000[10]
GNIS feature ID	1454997[4]
Major airport	Salt Lake City International Airport
Website	Salt Lake City Government

Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had a population of 1,257,936 at the 2020 census. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area, a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along a 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,746,164 (as of 2021 estimates),^[12] making it the 22nd largest in the nation. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, it is the 117th most populous city in the United States.^[13] It is also the central core of the larger of only two major urban areas located within the Great Basin (the other being Reno, Nevada).

Salt Lake City was founded on July 24, 1847, by early pioneer settlers led by Brigham Young who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. The Mormon pioneers, as they would come to be known, entered a semi-arid valley and immediately began planning and building an extensive irrigation network which could feed the population and foster future growth. Salt Lake City's street grid system is based on a standard compass grid plan, with the southeast corner of Temple Square (the area containing the Salt Lake Temple in downtown Salt Lake City) serving as the origin of the Salt Lake meridian. Owing to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named Great Salt Lake City. In 1868, the word "Great" was dropped from the city's name.^[14] Immigration of international members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the West". It was traversed by the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, in 1913. Two major cross-country freeways, I-15 and I-80, now intersect in the city. The city also has a belt route, I-215.

Salt Lake City has developed a strong tourist industry based primarily on skiing, outdoor recreation, and religious tourism. It hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and is a candidate city for the 2030 Winter Olympics. It is known for its politically liberal culture, which stands in contrast with most of the rest of the state's highly conservative leanings.^[15] It is home to a significant LGBT community and hosts the annual Utah Pride Festival.^[16] It is the industrial banking center of the United States.^[17] Salt Lake City and the surrounding area are also the location of several institutions of higher education including the state's flagship research school, the University of Utah.

Sustained drought in Utah has recently strained Salt Lake City's water security, caused the Great Salt Lake level to drop to record low levels,^[18][19] and has impacted the local and state economy.^[20] The receding lake has exposed arsenic which may become airborne, exposing area residents to poisonous dust.^[21] The city is also under threat of major earthquake damage amplified by two offshoots of the nearby Wasatch Fault that join underneath the downtown area.^[22]