Demographics of Utah

Population

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Utah was 2,995,919 on July 1, 2015, a 8.40% increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[2]

The center of population of Utah is located in Utah County in the city of Lehi.^[3] As of April 1, 2010 the 2010 Census indicated that Utah had a population of 2,763,885.^[4] In 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau determined Utah was the fastest-growing state in the country.^[5]

Much of the population lives in cities and towns along the Wasatch Front, a metropolitan region that runs north–south with the Wasatch Mountains rising on the eastern side. Growth outside the Wasatch Front is also increasing. The St. George metropolitan area is currently the second fastest-growing in the country after the Las Vegas metropolitan area, while the Heber micropolitan area is also the second fastest-growing in the country (behind Palm Coast, Florida).^[6]

Utah contains 5 metropolitan areas (Logan, Ogden-Clearfield, Salt Lake City, Provo-Orem, and St. George), and five micropolitan areas (Brigham City, Heber, Vernal, Price, and Cedar City).

Birth data

Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

• Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

Ancestry

According to 2010 United States Census projections, the racial and ethnic makeup of Utah are as it follows. :

• 88.6% White or European.
• 2.8% Asian-American.
• 1.8% American Indians and Alaskan Natives.
• 1.6% African American.
• 1.3% Pacific Islander.
• 6.9% Some other race.
• 13% Hispanic/Latino (of any race)

Utah Population Density Map

The largest ancestry groups in the state are:^[11]

• 27.7% English
• 14.9% Scandinavian: (5.9% Danish, 4.3% Swedish, & 2.4% Norwegian)
• 12.4% German
• 7.0% American
• 6.1% Irish
• 4.7% Scottish
• 2.9% Italian
• 2.2% French
• 2.2% Welsh
• 1.4% Scotch Irish
• 1.3% Swiss

Utah County has the largest Icelandic American population, while Sanpete County is about a fifth (17%) Danish American. Swedish Americans and Norwegian Americans outnumbered English American ancestry in Central Utah (i.e. Heber City). Finnish Americans, Russian Americans and Ukrainian Americans are significant in number throughout the state (esp. Carbon County, Utah and Wasatch County, Utah areas). The Wikipedia article Utah Italians describes the state's small but established Italian-American community. And the percentage of persons of Spanish American ancestry including those of Basque descent are also present. Most Utahns are of Northern European descent.^[12]

In the 2010 Census estimates, 89.2% of the state population is white and European American.^[13] Hispanics are the next largest group with 13.0%, followed by Asians at 1.7% and Native American at 1.3%.

Religion

A majority of the state's residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). As of 2007, 60.7% of Utahns are counted as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although only 41.6% of Utahns are active members.^[14][15] Mormons now make up about 39%, while 28% are active in Salt Lake County, mainly residing in the southern part of the valley (Draper, South Jordan, and parts of West Jordan) ^[16] while rural areas tend to be overwhelmingly Mormon. Though the LDS Church officially maintains a policy of neutrality in regards to political parties,^[17] the church's doctrine has a strong regional influence on politics. Another doctrine effect can be seen in Utah's high birth rate (25 percent higher than the national average; the highest for a state in the U.S.).^[18] The Mormons in Utah tend to have conservative views when it comes to most political issues and the majority of voter-age Utahns are unaffiliated voters (60%) who vote overwhelmingly Republican.^[19] John McCain polled 62.5% in the 2008 Presidential Election while 70.9% of Utahns opted for George W. Bush in 2004. In 2000 the Religious Congregations and Membership Study^[20] reported that the three largest denominational groups in Utah are Mormon, Catholic, and Evangelical Protestant. The LDS church has the highest number of adherents in Utah (at 1,493,612 members), followed by the Catholic Church with 97,085 members reported and the Southern Baptist Convention, reporting 13,258 adherents.

The LDS Salt Lake Temple, the primary attraction in the city's Temple Square.

According to a report produced by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life the self-identified religious affiliations of Utahns over the age of 18 as of 2008 are:^[14]

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 51% (labeled as Mormon on survey)
• Catholic 17%
• Unaffiliated 16%
• Evangelicals 7%
• Mainline Protestants 6%
• Black Protestant Churches 1.6%
• No Answer 1%
• Other Faiths 1%
• Buddhism <.5%
• Eastern Orthodox <.5%
• Hinduism <.5%
• Islam <.5%
• Jehovah's Witnesses <.5%
• Judaism <.5%
• Non denominational <.5%
• Other World Religions <.5%

Margin of error +/- 6%

In 2010 Utah was 62.1% Mormon (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Salt Lake County, was 51.4% LDS. The county with the lowest percentage of LDS was Grand County at 26.5%. The county with the highest percentage of LDS was Morgan County at 86.1% ^[21]

Culture

Recently, Utah has experienced an in-migration of population from other U.S. states which served to change the state's sociocultural/political character. The percentage of Utah residents who are Mormon has declined while the number of the religiously unaffiliated has increased.

Southwestern Utah aka "Utah's Dixie" does not have many cultural similarities with the Southeastern United States. The name came from a dispatched settlement drive in the 1850s to advertise the warm desert climate found in Washington County.

The warmer climate and temperate medium-elevation areas of Iron, Juab, Millard, Sanpete and Washington counties record population growth rates from the 1980s to early 2010s.

The state witnessed some splits and sects of Mormonism are evident: Bickertonites, Church of Christ and ex-Mormons; and the FLDS fundamentalist communes in the rural communities like Hildale in southernmost Utah and the nearby towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Fredonia, Arizona adjacent to the Arizona Strip on the state boundary with Arizona.

Also there is an active lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community which thrives in the Salt Lake metropolitan area. The national LGBT magazine The Advocate ranked Salt Lake City as one of the nation's 50 hot spots for the subculture in 2005.

Utah has a high total birth rate,^[18] and the youngest population of any U.S. state. It is also one of the few non-Southern states that has more males than females.

In 2000, 49.9% female and 50.1% male constituted the gender makeup of Utah.^[23]

References