Scott M. Matheson was born 8 January 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, a son of Scott Milne and Adele Adams Matheson. He soon moved with his family to Parowan, Utah, and, when he was five years old, to Salt Lake City, where his father became Assistant U.S. Attorney for Utah. Matheson graduated from Salt Lake City's East High School in 1946, from the University of Utah in 1950 with a degree in political science, and from Stanford Law School in 1952. On 25 August 1951 he married Norma Louise Warenski, and the couple had four children.