Blog Post

By: Mallory Bateman

Aug 19, 2021 – The release of the redistricting data (or PL 94 file) by the Census Bureau on August 12 provided a new set of insights from the 2020 enumeration. This release includes data on race, Hispanic or Latino origin, and housing from the state level to the smallest Census geography (block).

This is the second statistical release from the 2020 Census. In the first release,  Utah was named the fastest growing state between 2010 and 2020, growing 18.4% or to 3,271,616 residents in 2020 from 2,763,885 in 2010.

The primary use of this data is for the apportionment of political districts. However, this data also provides the first insights into our communities from the 2020 census. Some highlights include:

Total Populations

• South Jordan made national headlines as one of the 10 fastest growing cities with a population of over 50,000, growing from 50,418 to 77,487 residents.
• Salt Lake City maintains the title of the largest city in the state at 199,723. West Valley City and West Jordan are 2^nd and 3^rd at 140,230 and 116,961, respectively.
• Herriman added the most new residents of any Utah community, at 33,359
• Vineyard grew the fastest at 8923%, increasing from 139 residents in 2010 to 12,543 in 2020. Wasatch County was our fastest-growing county at 47.9%, growing from 23,530 to 34,788.
• The Wasatch Front remains home to 75% of the state population. The four-county area added 385,605 new residents. (2020 – 2,469,539 2010 – 2,083,934)
  • Salt Lake and Davis counties had the highest population densities in the state.
  • Salt Lake County added 155,583 new residents, Utah County added 142,835

Housing units

• Statewide, the number of housing units increased by 17.5% to 1,151,414 in 2020.
• Wasatch and Washingnton counties had the largest increases in occupied housing units between 2010 and 2020 at 52% and 31%, respectively. This could be due to shifts from vacation homes to primary homes for residents.

Race and ethnicity

• 52% of our growth came from groups outside of the non-Hispanic white population
  • Our largest racial and ethnic group remains the non-Hispanic white population at 75.4%, followed by the Hispanic or Latino population at 15.1%.
  • The populations identifying as Some Other Race or Two or More Races increased the fastest at 152% throughout the decade.
  • The Hispanic or Latino group increased the most out of all minority racial and ethnic groups with 134,572 in decadal growth, or by 38%.
• Our racial and ethnic diversity increased throughout the state as one in four Utahns self-identify as minority as compared to one in five in 2010.
  • Using a new metric, the diversity index, the data indicates an increase from 33.6% to 40.7% across the decade.
  • San Juan County had the highest diversity index in the state, increasing from 55.9% to 57.9%. Salt Lake County was second highest, increasing from 42.1% in 2010 to 50.1% in 2020.
  • Utahns under 18 are more likely to identify as a race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white than those over 18.

While the data is publicly available from the Census Bureau, the Gardner Institute wanted to make it easier to access information on Utah’s cities and counties. We have created two Fact Sheets on the Total Population for Counties and Communities and Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin in the state. For those who want a deeper dive, check out our visualizations.

Mallory Bateman is a Senior Research Analyst and State Data Center Coordinator at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.