Societies and Structures: How Social Cohesion Connects with Social Capital – Social Capital Index metrics report 3

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 is social cohesion, which the Utah Foundation defines as the foundational commonalities that allow a population to function effectively as a group and open the way for individuals to participate in that whole.

Most Mountain States have seen a slight decrease in social cohesion from 2021 to 2025. Utah is no different. That said:

Utah performs relatively well on its social cohesion sub-index score, being the second-highest of the Mountain States and the 17th best nationally.

This installment in the Utah Foundation’s Social Capital Index project aims to measure social cohesion by analyzing four indicators that researchers can revisit consistently over time:

1. Middle-class strength – Utah is best in the nation
2. Limited English language proficiency among children – Utah is the 19^th lowest
3. Limited English language proficiency among adults – Utah is the 28^th lowest
4. Population born in-state – Utah is the 19^th highest

Utah’s comparatively high relative ranking suggests that the Beehive State is a place where people can find a good deal of common ground economically, where stratification is limited, where language does not pose a major impediment to social interconnection, and where a substantial proportion of the population feels rooted

Highlights of this Report

• Utah’s level of social cohesion has decreased slightly from 2021 to 2025. This trend is mirrored in many Mountain States and the nation at large.
• Utah has a remarkably strong middle class. As of 2023, Utah’s middle class remained ahead of every other state.
• The percentage of Utah children with limited English proficiency is in the bottom half of all states. This contrasts somewhat with the adult population; Utah has the 20th highest share of adults with limited English proficiency.
• Utah’s share of residents born in the state ranks 18th highest in 2023. Utah is unique among the Mountain States in its robust population of state natives; most states in the region are well below average on this count, and some rank among the very lowest.