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.” Put simply, social capital refers to the ways in which individuals can leverage connections between people and social networks for the benefit of themselves or their community.
One of the seven categories of the project focuses on social mobility. The key finding from that report is:
Utah has the twelfth-best social mobility in the nation.
Utah’s social mobility has improved since 2013, though the gap between it and the nation is shrinking.
The Utah Foundation’s four indicators to compare states in terms of social mobility are:
- Post-secondary attainment – 13th
- Homeownership levels – 13th
- The extent to which people are earning more than their parents did – 14th
- The proportion of unengaged youth – 15th
“Utah does very well in terms of social mobility,” said Shawn Teigen, President of the Utah Foundation. “And fortunately, we are heading in the right direction. However, we seem to be losing our edge, as the nation has gained ground on us over the past four years.”
Highlights of this Report
- Utah has the twelfth-best social mobility in the nation, grouped closely with Colorado and Montana in the Mountain States. Utah’s social mobility has improved since 2013, though the gap between it and the nation is shrinking.
- Utah is in the top third of states when it comes to educational attainment. Among the Mountain States, only the highly-educated Colorado outperforms Utah in the percentage of population with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- In terms of homeownership, Utah is one of the top-performing Mountain States, ranking just behind Idaho and tying with Wyoming for second place. Utah ranks 13th nationally.
- As to intergenerational economic mobility, Utah ranks in the top third of states. Among the Mountain States, only Montana outperforms Utah.
- When it comes to youth engagement in education, training, or employment, Utah performs among the top 15 states nationally, along with Colorado. However, recent trends show a narrowing gap between the nation and Utah on this metric.
