Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the north central part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately 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 2020 population was 98,129, making it the 5th most populous city in Utah. Utah Valley University is located in Orem.
History
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,
Unlike many other early Utah communities, Orem's houses were not originally clustered in a town composed of regular city blocks. Instead, Orem's farmers dispersed their homes, building them along the territorial highway (now called State Street) and other major roads so that they could be close to both transportation corridors and to their fields and orchards.
left|thumb|alt=portrait photograph of a cleanshaven man in a suit|Walter C. Orem, namesake of the city
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.
Geography
Orem is in a high desert, with an average elevation of . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city covers an area of , all land. Orem is near the eastern shore of Utah Lake, bordering Provo on the east and south, Vineyard to the west, Lindon contiguous to the north, and Mount Timpanogos/Wasatch Mountain range to the east.