Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Vernal gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $296K for a typical one, or 4 years of the Vernal area’s $74K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 101st among Utah's 118 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $64K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line, and its police reported 45 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 77% of U.S. towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 33% of working residents work locally in Vernal, above both Utah’s towns (8.2%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 8 of Utah’s 173 towns score higher on walkability. Vernal has 9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Vernal Tithing Office and Lewis Curry House.
Where Vernal beats most towns.
Lewis Curry House9,089 counted in 2010 and 10,079 in 2020; an estimated 10,671 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.9% since 2020, after 10.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Utah), ordered by how far Vernal is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for jobs and income (better than 12%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 799 in 1880, a low of 664 in 1900, 10,079 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1887 and 4 maps from 1917 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vernal, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Mar 13, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Vernal.
Vernal carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Utah (mostly inland flooding) and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has seen reported crime rise by about half.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Utah towns, with expected losses of about $46 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Vernal’s FEMA risk score is 2 of 100. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Vernal since 2014.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Uintah District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Terra Academy, with 595 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vernal MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 842 | C+ |
| Terra AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 595 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within UT on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 42% in five years, to about $297K, against 12% across Utah.
55% of Vernal households own their home. The typical Vernal home is worth about $297,000, up 4.1% in a year, 44% below the Utah typical home. The median rent in Vernal is $934 a month.
| Vernal | Utah towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $934 a month | $1,542 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Reported crimes rose from 151 to 256 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Only 6 of the 62 Utah towns we compare have a higher violent crime rate than Vernal. Vernal reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 77% report less.
| Vernal | Utah towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.4 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Vernal has cold winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 9° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,818 U.S. towns with household incomes like Vernal’s, it is healthier than 86%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income. Within Utah it is less healthy than 86% of the 118 graded towns: Utah sets a high bar.
13% of adults binge drink in Vernal. Only 3 of the 118 Utah towns we compare have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Vernal. 21% of adults get no exercise outside work in Vernal.
| Vernal | Utah towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 28% | 23% |
| What stands out | Vernal | UT |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.6% | 9.8% |
| More smokers | 12% | 8.1% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 8.5% | 6.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 4,714 working residents takes 15.9 minutes, against 22.1 across Utah.
About one in 3 of Vernal’s working residents works in town. Among 119 Utah towns, just 8 have a lower median household income than Vernal. Jobs based in Vernal fell to 6,192 in 2023, 547 fewer than in 2013.
| Vernal | Utah towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.6 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Among 117 Utah towns, just 3 have a lower trail density than Vernal. The biggest park or preserve is Ashley Valley Community Park, at 28 acres.
| Vernal | Utah towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 3.5% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ashley Valley Community Park | 0.4 mi | 28 |
| 2. Freestone Legacy Park | — | 7 |
| 3. Independence Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Vernal; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Vernal residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Utah.
9 places in Vernal on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Vernal.
City in Utah, United States
Vernal is the county seat of and the largest city in Uintah County, Utah, approximately 175 miles (280 km) east of Salt Lake City and 20 miles (32 km) west of the Colorado border. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 10,079. The population has since grown to 10,432 as of the 2022 population estimate. Vernal is home to the Vernal Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of the nine statewide regional campuses of Utah State University. The city serves as a gateway to the nearby Dinosaur National Monument, Flaming Gorge, and the Uinta Mountain Range.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Vernal.
Maeser reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Vernal with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Vernal grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #101 of 118 in Utah. It grades B for health, C− for safety and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
13 notable people were born here, including James Woods and Clair Burgener.
