Businesses were few while South Jordan remained a quiet farm community. There were the Jordan Merc, H&E Service, Holt's Service, and the White Fawn Flour Mill; all four are gone now. In modern South Jordan a dozen small businesses thrive along with a major grocery store, a freeway motel, and high-rise business towers. Considerable additional land has been zoned along the freeway and east of Redwood Road for business development. Public recreational facilities have been provided, with more than 233 acres of land either already developed or set aside for development as parks. Further recreational outlets in the city include a private golf course and a county-operated equestrian complex and race track, among others.

South Jordan adjoins the neighboring communities of West Jordan to the north, Sandy to the east, and Riverton immediately to the south. The Bingham open-pit copper mine and the Oquirrh Mountains can be seen several miles to the west. The city can be easily located from Interstate 15 by sighting the Jordan River LDS Temple on 1300 West 10,200 South. The temple is a prominent landmark in the south end of Salt Lake Valley and was erected in 1981.