Utah Foundation Significant Statistics

#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

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

Significant Statistic | Voter Turnout in Utah

Written by: Christopher Collard

Utah Voter Turnout Historically, Utah has been a state with low voter turnout. That began to change in 2014 with the adoption of mail-in voting. You can see from the graph above that turnout usually follows a cyclical pattern. Presidential election years see an average turnout of 60% from 2008 to 2024. Non-presidential elections see an average turnout of 44% from 2006 to 2022. Municipal Elections and Utah County Municipal elections (those that happen in … Continued

Significant Statistic | Preferred Congressional Maps, Local Government Perspectives Part 4

Written by: Christopher Collard

Preferred Maps In 2020, the Utah Foundation conducted a survey of city officials to gain insight into their perspectives on redistricting. One question offered a small sample of maps to choose from, asking respondents which redistricting option would most benefit their community. The urban/rural map was most popular, although nearly a quarter of respondents were satisfied with the status quo.  (See Figure 1.)       A Utah court required the Legislature to redraw its … Continued

Significant Statistic | Redistricting Priorities, Local Government Perspectives Part 3

Written by: Christopher Collard

City and Town Officials’ Priorities When redistricting, the Utah Legislature outlined several guiding principles. These include: Preserving communities of interest Preserving geographical or man-made boundaries Preserving the core of prior districts Minimizing the division of municipalities and counties Maximizing boundary agreement at different political levels Prohibiting the purposeful favoring or disfavoring of a party, incumbent, or candidate In 2020, the Utah Foundation conducted a survey of city officials to gain insight into their perspectives on … Continued