Local Area Info: Orem, Utah

Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is about 45 miles (72 km) south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Utah and Juab counties. The population was 84,324 at the 2000 census, while the 2010 population was 88,328 making it the fifth-largest city in Utah. Utah Valley University is located in Orem. The Orem Owlz of the minor league baseball Pioneer League play their home games at the college.

Orem uses the slogan "Family City USA." In 2010 Forbes rated it the 5th best place to raise a family. Also, Time magazine rated the Provo-Orem area as the best place to live for spiritual well-being, due to a high population of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At one time the area was known as Sharon, a Biblical name for a mostly level strip of land running between mountains and the sea, and the name of the Vermont birth town of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Another former name was Provo Bench. In an apparent attempt to attract more investment to the town and provide an easy way for the large population of farmers with orchards to ship produce, in 1914 it was named after Walter C. Orem, President of the Salt Lake and Utah Railroad in the early 1900s. Orem was incorporated on May 5, 1919.

As of 2011 the 88,112 residents of Orem had a racial and ethnic composition of 89.3% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islanders, 4% non-Hispanics reporting some other race, 2.9% two or more races reported and 14.8% Hispanic, as Orem has a large Mexican American community with other Latinos residing in the city. This contrasts with the census of 2000, which showed a racial makeup of 90.80% White, 0.33% African American, 0.73% Native American, 1.45% Asian, 0.86% Pacific Islander, 3.64% from other races, and 2.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.56% of the population. The 2000 Census counted 84,324 people, 23,382 households, and 19,079 families. The population density at that time was 4,572.6 people per square mile (1,765.6/km²). There were 24,166 housing units at an average density of 1,310.4 per square mile (506.0/km²). There were 23,382 households out of which 48.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.0% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.4% were non-families. 12.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.57 and the average family size was 3.93.