Is there a synagogue in Salt Lake City?

Yes. Congregation Kol Ami is Salt Lake City's main synagogue, a merged congregation formed in 1972 from a Reform and a Conservative synagogue. It holds Reform services on Friday evenings and Conservative services on Saturday mornings, serving about 350 families.

Is there a Chabad in Utah?

Yes. Chabad Lubavitch of Utah has served Salt Lake City since 1992 under Rabbi Benny Zippel, offering synagogue services, a Hebrew school, a summer camp, and a mikveh.

Is there a Jewish community in Park City?

Yes. Park City has its own Reform congregation, Temple Har Shalom, founded in 1995 and affiliated with the Reform movement in 1999, serving Jewish families in the ski-resort area.

How big is the Jewish population in Utah?

Estimates put Utah's Jewish population between roughly 5,000 and 6,500 people statewide, with the large majority living in and around Salt Lake City.

Are there Orthodox or traditional Jewish options in Utah?

Chabad Lubavitch of Utah in Salt Lake City is the primary traditional and Orthodox-oriented resource, offering services, education, and a mikveh for observant and unaffiliated Jews alike.

Jewish Communities in Utah: Salt Lake City & Park City

Quick answer: Utah’s Jewish community numbers roughly 5,000 to 6,500 people statewide, concentrated in Salt Lake City. Congregation Kol Ami is a rare merged Reform-and-Conservative synagogue serving about 350 families, Chabad Lubavitch of Utah anchors traditional and outreach life, and Park City has its own Reform congregation, Temple Har Shalom.

How Many Jews Live in Utah?

Utah is home to an estimated 5,000 to 6,500 Jewish residents, a small but stable community in a state where Jews make up a fraction of a percent of the population. The great majority live in and around Salt Lake City, with a smaller but growing population an hour east in Park City. The community has been quietly expanding in recent years, helped along by University of Utah students and staff, tech-sector transplants, and outdoor-recreation families drawn to the Wasatch Front. The United Jewish Federation of Utah, based in Salt Lake City, coordinates community-wide programming, fundraising, and connections to Jewish organizations statewide, giving a geographically small community a central address for communal life. Locally, Utah’s Jews sometimes refer to their home affectionately as “Jewtah” — a nod to just how unusual it is to be Jewish in a state so strongly shaped by one dominant faith.

Congregation Kol Ami: One Roof, Two Movements

Salt Lake City’s signature Jewish institution is Congregation Kol Ami, and its structure tells the story of a small community that chose unity over division. Kol Ami was formed in 1972 through the merger of Congregation B’nai Israel, a Reform congregation founded in 1891, and Congregation Montefiore, a Conservative congregation founded in 1899. Rather than picking one movement, the merged synagogue kept both: it holds Reform services on Friday evenings and Conservative services on Saturday mornings, all under one roof and one membership. Kol Ami counts roughly 350 family units — about a quarter of the state’s entire Jewish population — making it by far Utah’s largest Jewish congregation. The name itself, Hebrew for “all of my people,” reflects the inclusive approach that has kept the community intact for more than fifty years.

Chabad Lubavitch of Utah

Founded in Salt Lake City in 1992 under Rabbi Benny Zippel, Chabad Lubavitch of Utah has grown into a full-service hub for traditional and unaffiliated Jews alike. Its campus includes a synagogue, a Hebrew school, Camp Gan Israel in the summer, and the Ruth J. Lunzer Mikvah — an important piece of infrastructure for a community this size. Chabad’s programming reaches well beyond Salt Lake City proper, supporting Jewish residents and visitors across the Wasatch Front and, notably, around Utah’s ski resorts and university campuses.

Park City’s Own Congregation

Forty minutes east of Salt Lake, Park City has developed a Jewish community distinct enough to support its own synagogue. Temple Har Shalom began in 1995 when local Jewish families decided the mountain town needed a spiritual home of its own, formally affiliated with the Reform movement in 1999, and dedicated its current building in 2008. It’s a genuinely modern-Western congregation — winter Shabbat sometimes starts with the rabbi leading a ski run down Deer Valley before an afternoon service and oneg. For families relocating to the Park City area, it is the closest thing to a full Reform congregation outside the Salt Lake valley.

What Jewish Life in Utah Actually Feels Like

Being Jewish in Utah means being a small minority in a state shaped by a single dominant faith community — and most Utah Jews describe that as workable, even quietly rewarding. Kosher options are limited compared to major metro areas, but Chabad-run resources and a handful of markets in Salt Lake City cover the basics. What the community lacks in size it makes up for in cohesion: with one large merged congregation, one Chabad house, and one Park City synagogue, most Jewish Utahns know each other, or at least know of each other, across denominational lines.

Finding Your Place in Utah’s Jewish Community

Whether you’re relocating for work, university, or the mountains, getting oriented starts with knowing where the community actually gathers. HeimishMart’s Community Explorer is a good starting point for locating Jewish life across Utah neighborhoods, and the Jewish Events calendar tracks Shabbat programming, holiday gatherings, and community meetups in Salt Lake City and Park City alike. Families house-hunting near Kol Ami, Chabad, or Temple Har Shalom can browse Real Estate listings or search Rentals for something closer to a walkable distance from synagogue. If you’re moving for work, the Jobs board covers openings across Utah’s Jewish-adjacent employers and community institutions. Anyone in a tight spot can also turn to Chessed, HeimishMart’s mutual-aid network, which is especially valuable in a small community where formal social services may be thin. And if you run a Jewish-owned business, tutor Hebrew school, or have a room to rent near Kol Ami or Chabad, you can add a listing to help the next family find you.

By the HeimishMart Community Desk — HeimishMart is the community marketplace for Jewish homes, jobs, and local life across North America.