Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA).

The city lies in the northeasternmost part of the Mojave Desert, immediately south of the Pine Valley Mountains, which mark the southern boundary of the Great Basin.

St. George was founded as part of the cotton mission[8] in 1861 under the direction of Latter Day Saint apostle Erastus Snow.

Enough favorable reports had come to him from this warm region below the rim of the Great Basin, that he was convinced cotton could be raised successfully here.

At the general church conference in Salt Lake City on October 6th, 1861, about three hundred families were "called" to the Dixie mission to promote the cotton industry.

Most of the people knew nothing of this expedition until their names were read from the pulpit; but in nearly every case, they responded with good will, and made ready to leave within the month's time allotted to them.

The families were selected so as to ensure the communities the right number of farmers, masons, blacksmiths, businessmen, educators, carpenters, as needed.

[11] The 1992 St. George earthquake destroyed three houses, as well as above- and below-ground utilities, causing about US$1 million in damage.

Winds routinely carried the fallout of these tests directly through the St. George and southern Utah area.

Among the cancer deaths were John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Susan Hayward, the stars of the film.

[20] A 1962 United States Atomic Energy Commission report found children living in St. George at the time of the fallout may have received doses to their thyroids of radioiodine as high as 120 to 440 rads" (1.2 to 4.4 Gy).

The Beaver Dam Mountains/Utah Hill lie to the west, the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and Pine Valley Mountains to the north, the western edge of the Colorado Plateau and Zion National Park to the east, and the Arizona Strip to the south.

[22] Some neighborhoods are large housing developments created during the city's rapid modern expansion; others carry the names of geographical features or unincorporated communities that have been annexed by St. George.

St. George's arid climate is significantly warmer on average than the rest of the state, and more closely resembles nearby Las Vegas.

About 60 mornings have low temperature drops to the freezing mark, with the historical average window between November 12 and March 14.

Record-breaking widespread flooding occurred during January 2005 when area creeks and rivers far exceeded their banks and washed out homes and some neighborhoods.

Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, except for a markedly drier period from April through June, which occurs after the Pacific storm season ends, but before the southwest monsoon begins, usually in mid-July.

The cold spell killed or severely damaged much of the area's non-native vegetation, such as the Mexican fan palm trees.

As of the 2015, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in St. George are:[26] As of the 2020 census, 95,342 peopleand 37,515 households, families were residing in the city.

The city's racial makeup was 87.2% White, 0.7% African-American, 1.5% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 1.0% Pacific Islander, and 8.9% from other races.

[33] The Cafe Rio restaurant chain was started in St. George in 1997,[34] though is now headquartered in Salt Lake City.

The city is a popular retirement destination[35] and also hosts a significant number of vacation homes for people who primarily live in colder areas.

In January 2019, Dixie State announced they were reclassifying to NCAA Division I and joining the Western Athletic Conference.

[37] Former DSU athletes include Corey Dillon, Anton Palepoi, Reno Mahe, and Scott Brumfield, who all later played in the NFL, and Marcus Banks, Lionel Hollins, Keon Clark, and Mo Baker were Dixie players who later played in the NBA.

Utah Tech athletes are called Trailblazers (formerly the Rebels and Red Storm), and former Trailblazers Bradley Thompson and Brandon Lyon later played in major league baseball, while Bruce Hurst of Dixie High School later played for the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher, and then ended up managing the now-retired Zion Pioneerzz for its inaugural 1999 season (1999).

Council members are Jimmy Hughes, Dannielle Larkin, Natalie Larsen, Michelle Tanner, and Steve Kemp.

Also in St. George are the offices of Cedar City, Utah–licensed[47] KCSG Channel 14, a MeTV affiliate, which broadcasts local news.

The Las Vegas NBC affiliate, KSNV-DT, has a local translator owned by Cherry Creek Radio, KVBT-LP channel 41, on which some of its programming airs two hours later than the same programming broadcast on Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL-TV.

As of 2023, two-way flights to Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles(LAX) and Dallas–Fort Worth, were available.

[51][52] SunTran, the local public transit system, operates seven fixed-routes serving most areas of St. George, Washington, and Ivins.