A town of 502, settled in 1983. A typical home worth about $268K.
The 2 things Big Water does most differently from other towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Be the first to start the conversation.
Ordered by what stands out in Big Water. Another town gets a different order.
The typical Big Water home is worth about $268,000, up 4.2% in a year, 50% below the Utah typical home.
The public schools Big Water’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 83% of Utah’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.
| School | Grades | Students | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Water School | K–6 | 40 | B− |
| Big Water High | 7–12 | 33 | C− |
Most working residents leave Big Water for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Orderville (17%), Page (14%) and Kanab (7%). Half commute less than 56 miles.
Big Water has chilly winters and hot summers, with very little rain. A typical July afternoon reaches 99°, a January night drops to 26°, and snow is almost unheard of.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 62% of U.S. communities.
7 crimes were reported in Big Water in 2025: 5 property and 2 violent. In a town this small, a few incidents move the numbers a lot, so rates aren't shown.
Big Water is small, so we show counts rather than rates.
Big Water beats the Utah average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14.
| What stands out | Big Water | UT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 9.6% | 12.4% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 76.1% | 65.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.5% | 4.6% |
13 miles of trails across 1 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Big Water Park | — | 6 |
Where Big Water’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
11 postcards, papers and photographs from public archives.
Town in the state of Utah, United States
Big Water is a town in Kane County, Utah, United States. The population was 449 at the 2020 census, down from 475 at the 2010 census. It is located 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Page, Arizona, on US-89 near Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam. It was originally called Glen Canyon City and housed workers who built the dam in the 1950s. Big Water made news in the 1980s as a polygamous colony of the Joseph clan. It also made news in 1986, when the mayor Alex Joseph and the city council left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party. This made Joseph the first Libertarian city mayor in the history of the U.S. Subsequently, Willy Marshall, also a Libertarian, was elected as the state's …
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