#5 Finding from 2025: Utah’s Strong Middle Class

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 5th place: “Utah has a remarkably strong middle class. As of 2023, Utah’s middle class remained ahead of every other state.” The Details The Utah Foundation’s Social Capital Index project is a series of reports that measure whether Utah is thriving in terms of its “social capital.” … Continued

#6 Finding from 2025: Comparing Delegates and Voters

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 6th place: “Both Republican and Democratic delegates are more likely than voters to be men, actively religious, older, and white, and have more education and higher incomes.” The Details The Utah political process includes the use of party delegates. Delegates are representatives chosen at a party caucus … Continued

#7 Finding from 2025: Importance of Social Capital

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 7th place: “High levels of social capital are associated with better resource allocation and social cohesion, accelerated economic development and mobility, improved education and health outcomes, stronger community engagement and disaster resilience, and reduced reliance on government services.” The Details Social capital was a big part of … Continued

#8 Finding from 2025: High but Falling Family Health

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 8th place: “Utah ranks second in family health, but has fallen from 20 to 14, the fourth-largest drop in the nation.” The Details “Famliy health” is one of seven categories from the 2025 Social Capital Index project. This category has seven of the project’s 34 metrics. Overall, … Continued

#9 Finding from 2025: Commissioner’s Office as Think Tank

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 9th place: “The Commissioner’s Office should be the key think tank for Utah Legislators and the Utah State of Higher Education Board.” The Details Post-secondary education governance looks different in every state. In our state, the Utah Board of Higher Education oversees 16 disparate institutions. The idea … Continued

#10 Finding from 2025: Significant Social Capital Decline

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 10th place: “Utah’s Social Capital Index score stands at 82 out of 100, which is a continuing downward slide from 2013, when Utah stood at 96. This compares to the United States, which stands at 44.” The Details Utah’s Social Capital Index score stands at 82 out of … Continued

Utah Thrives: Social Capital Wrap-up

Written by: Dan Bammes

What has all this study and conversation about social capital meant as the Utah Foundation has looked at it from multiple angles? Social capital – defined as the value of relationships in families and the larger community – is an extremely valuable asset, every bit as important as money in the bank for the places and people that have it. Utah Foundation staff looked back on the series of reports about social capital, talking about … Continued

Utah Foundation News

Written by: Shawn Teigen

At the last Board of Trustees meeting of 2025, we said goodbye to Kelly Mendenhall. He is a longtime supporter and Trustee. He’s served in several officerial positions, most recently as the Board Chair. Kelly is the third chair in a row to serve only one year before taking on new and exciting positions out of state. He is staying with Enbridge Energy, but moving to Toronto. In addition, we welcomed a new set of … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | Social Mobility in Utah

Written by: Dan Bammes

Over the past year, the Utah Foundation has published a series of reports looking at social capital in Utah – the idea, as expressed by Harvard Professor Robert Putnam, that our connections between individuals and the broader community improve not only our own well-being but that of the places we live and the nation as a whole. One key aspect of that is social mobility – improving each family’s station in life.  As the report … Continued

Significant Statistic | Millard County and Utah Data Centers

Written by: Staff

Utah’s Emerging AI Infrastructure: The Millard County Data Center Utah’s economic landscape continues to evolve as a new project in Millard County draws attention from policymakers and industry observers. Joule Capital Partners, in partnership with Caterpillar Inc., has proposed building a high-performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus on roughly 4,000 acres near the Intermountain Power Project.[1] The facility could eventually reach up to 4 gigawatts of power capacity, positioning it among the … Continued