If you love the outdoors, check out Utah assisted living communities. With some of the most stunning mountain vistas in the country thanks to the Rock Mountains, Utah offers world-class ski resorts, hiking, and other outdoor activities guaranteed to keep active seniors and their families occupied all year long.
Utah offers five national parks, six national forests, and lots of state parks—offering some of the best skiing, hiking, biking, camping, and white-water rafting in the country. Its skiing in particular is world-renowned and on par with top resorts in the Alps. Utah is a high-elevation state, with dry, cold winters and hot summers. If you live in the mountains, expect to see a lot of snow—over 400 inches per year. Southern areas such as Moab have more desert-like conditions, with blistering hot summers and mild winters.
Despite its high quality of life, the overall cost of living isn’t as high as you might expect—22nd lowest in the country. Taxes in Utah are a mixed bag. Property taxes are assessed at 100% of the home’s market value, but the per capita property tax rate is among the lowest in the country. VA benefits aren’t taxed—and military retirees over age 64 can deduct $7,500 from taxes. Median housing values in Utah are higher than the national average, and tend to be considerably higher in resort towns such as Park City and Salt Lake City.
If you’re interested in senior living in Utah, you can’t go wrong by checking out a few of these communities.
Salt Lake City
Located within a few hours’ drive of over 20 national parks and monuments, Salt Lake City is nestled among the Rocky Mountains and located along the shores of the Great Salt Lake. If you love skiing, you’re near plenty of world-famous resorts in Salt Lake City, including Alta and Snowbird. Salt Lake City has a strong Mormon influence, as well as highly unique attractions such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Family Search Center. There’s also professional ballet, opera and symphony, historical museums, and more.
St. George
The Mormon influence is strong throughout Utah, but St. George is more religiously diverse than Salt Lake City. It’s Utah’s 7th-largest city, and it’s located beneath stunning red-rock bluffs in the southwestern corner of Utah. St. George is more desert than mountains, with hot summers and mild winters. There are lots of golf courses in St. George, which gets plenty of sunshine—as well as hiking in Zion National Park nearby.
Park City
One of Utah’s most expensive communities, Park City is a mountain resort town that attracts its fair share of wealthy retirees. A former mining town located in the Wasatch Mountains, it’s been beautifully restored—and includes a chairlift from downtown directly to the top of the vast Park City Ski Resort. There’s plenty of skiing at other resorts as well, including The Canyons and Deer Valley. It’s the site of the Sundance Film Festival, and hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002. It offers plenty of upscale shopping, dining, and cultural and artistic attractions and events throughout the year.
Utah assisted living has a lot to offer—from some of the best outdoor recreation in the world to gorgeous scenery, vibrant downtowns, and plenty of artistic and cultural events. In addition, senior housing in Utah is surprisingly low in many communities—especially away from the more popular resort towns. Check out our free listing of Utah senior living communities that offer gorgeous mountain or desert vistas, great affordability, and a high quality of life—and get started finding your retirement Zion.
