The urban areas created by the US Census Bureau "represent densely developed territory, and encompass residential, commercial, and other nonresidential urban land uses. Each urban area must encompass at least 2,000 housing units or at least 5,000 people." They were created by the Bureau following the 2020 census based on the population and housing unit density of individual blocks.

The 2020 Census increased the urban population and housing unit count requirements for the first time since 1910, resulting in differences between the 2010 and 2020 boundaries beyond those resulting from population change. In addition, they also stopped distinguishing between "urbanized areas" and "urban clusters" and renamed areas as needed to reflect the updated boundaries.

Utah's 2020 census geographic boundaries became available in February 2021 and the demographic redistricting legacy files (the 2020 Census Redistricting P.L. 94-171 Summary Files) became available on August 12, 2021. The Census Bureau will release a more user-friendly version of the 2020 Census Redistricting P.L. 94-171 Summary Files on September 30, 2021. In the meantime, UGRC, with collaboration from the Analytics Group at WFRC , opens in a new tab , has worked with the August 12 release and has created ready-to-use GIS data in several formats that hopefully make the 2020 redistricting data easier to use. Read more about these offerings in the blog post, 2020 Census Redistricting Data in Easy to Use GIS Formats

The 2020 data available on this page was downloaded from the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171) , opens in a new tab page. All 2020 census geographies reflect boundaries as of January 1, 2020. Additional GIS files and support products are available on the census redistricting data , opens in a new tab page.

Geography is a fundamental aspect of the census, providing the framework for the once-a-decade count of population and housing. Read about some of the key geography changes in the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute's 2020 census geography blog , opens in a new tab and fact sheet , opens in a new tab .