Utah Foundation Significant Statistics

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

Significant Statistic | Redistricting and Preferred District Partners, Local Government Perspectives Part 2

Written by: Christopher Collard

Choosing District Partners In 2020, the Utah Foundation surveyed city officials to understand how they view their communities. Before asking about redistricting, the survey first asked city officials to identify which communities were similar to their own (see post: Redistricting and Similar Communities). The Utah Foundation then asked specifically about redistricting, whether there was a county that officials preferred to have in their district or a country they preferred to NOT have in their district. … Continued

Significant Statistic | Redistricting and Similar Communities, Local Government Perspectives Part 1

Written by: Christopher Collard

Choosing Communities In 2020, the Utah Foundation surveyed city officials to understand how they view their communities. One of the priorities of Utah’s redistricting commission was to keep together “communities of interest.” With that in mind, the Utah Foundation sought to better understand how city officials viewed their communities and which communities shared interests. To accomplish this, the Utah Foundation showed respondents a map of the state, asking them to select which four to six … Continued

Significant Statistic | Would a New Homelessness Campus Help Utah Relive Past Successes?

Written by: Staff

The Utah Legislature will be faced with a question of whether to help foot the bill for a 1,300-bed homeless campus in the northwest part of Salt Lake City.[1]  But why are more beds needed? This goes back to Utah’s success with “Housing First.” Beginning in the mid-2000s, Utah had been recognized as a leader in addressing chronic homelessness through the implementation of the Housing First model.[2] This approach prioritizes immediate housing support to individuals, … Continued

Significant Statistic | Utah Fertility Rate Drops the Fastest

Written by: Shawn Teigen

The Pew Charitable Trust’s State Fiscal Health project shows that Utah’s fertility rate declined the most of any state — by far — when comparing 2023 with the 2011-2020 average.* Fertility rates are the number of babies born per 1,000 women. Utah women averaged 75 babies per year between 2011 and 2020. That dropped to about 60 by 2023. Utah was second only to South Dakota during 2011-2020. Now Utah is eighth in the nation. … Continued

Significant Statistics | Bang For Your Buck: An Update on the Return on Investment from Education

Written by: Staff

BACKGROUND As students seek further education to improve their career and earning potential, understanding the long-term value of investment is essential. Determining the return on investment, due to various factors, is not always straightforward. The cost of attendance, student debt, graduation rates, and earnings all influence return on investment, and their impact varies across institutions and programs. To support informed decision-making, tools such as the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard provide valuable insights.[1] These … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utah Iron, Tariffs, and Economic Uncertainty

Written by: Ella Sjoblom

Utah Iron and Operations Suspension On April 7, 2025, Utah Iron announced that it would be suspending its operations. The company’s press release stated that “significant changes in global markets have created an unusual and strenuous amount of uncertainty for buyers and sellers.”[1] One of the largest employers in Iron County, Utah Iron’s operations support over 175 full-time jobs and at least 323 indirect or induced jobs.[2] These jobs yielded more than $20 million in … Continued

Significant Statistics | Good News for Utah’s Teachers

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Good news for Utah teachers. A new National Council on Teacher Quality study finds that “Between 2019 and 2025, housing costs increased by 47–51% on average, far outpacing the average 24% growth in beginning teacher salaries.”* How is that good news? Well, the study’s two Utah school districts, Jordan and Granite, seem to be doing a bit better than the nation. While Utah’s home price growth and rents outpace the national average, so do teacher … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utah Last in Education Spending per Student, However…

Written by: Shawn Teigen

It is fairly common knowledge that Utah has, for decades, been near the bottom in per-pupil spending on K-12 education. The U.S. Census Bureau shows that Utah had pulled into the second-lowest, ahead of Idaho, from 2019 to 2021.1 However, the Department of Education disagrees. Its latest research shows that Utah has been and remains dead last.2 The Utah Foundation prefers the measure of education spending effort, or the amount spent on education per $1,000 … Continued

Significant Statistics | Successes and Shortcomings in Post-Secondary Education

Written by: Ella Sjoblom

Nearly 62% of Utahns between the ages of 25 and 64 possess a college degree or other quality post-secondary credential, surpassing Lumina Foundation’s nationwide attainment target of 60%.1 Utah does not currently have a statewide post-secondary educational attainment goal. However, in 2013, Governor Herbert adopted an ambitious 66% target by 2020.2 Between 2013 and 2020, Utah’s post-high school educational attainment increased by nearly five percentage points and three more by 2023.* This is a far … Continued