The 2010 urban areas created by the US Census Bureau represent densely-developed urban areas, encompassing residential, commercial, and other nonresidential urban land uses. In general, this territory consists of areas of high population density and urban land use resulting in a representation of the "urban footprint." There are two types of urban areas: urbanized areas (UAs) that contain 50,000 or more people and urban clusters (UCs) that contain at least 2,500 people, but fewer than 50,000 people (except in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam which each contain urban clusters with populations greater than 50,000). Each urban area is identified by a 5-character numeric census code that may contain leading zeroes.

Geography is a fundamental aspect of the census, providing the framework for the once-a-decade count of population and housing. Utah's 2010 census geographic boundaries and basic demographic files for the redistricting process became available in January 2011. UGRC used these datasets to create the basic census 2010 layers.

The 2010 Census marked the end of the long-form questionnaire and the beginning of the American Community Survey (ACS). The 2010 geographies are used for the ACS estimates available before the 2020 Census, after which the ACS uses the 2020 geographies.