Demographics
The Gardner Institute provides demographic decision support to the Utah State Legislature and Office of the Governor. We produce population estimates and projections, as well as applied demographic research focused on Utah. We represent the state in work with the Census Bureau, including the State Data Center Program and Federal State Cooperatives for Population Estimates and Projections. We work with the Census Bureau in production, distribution, and analysis of their product.
We are your demographic resource.
Presentation: Gardner Institute Long-Term Planning Projections
Utah's continued economic growth and diversification and declining natural increase will drive net migration to become a steadily increasing force as the population grows by over 2.2 million people (a 66% increase) in the next four decades.
Utah’s Long-Term Planning Projections: A Baseline Scenario of Population and Employment Change in Utah and its Counties
Utah's continued economic growth and diversification and declining natural increase will drive net migration to become a steadily increasing force as the population grows by over 2.2 million people (a 66% increase) in the next four decades.
State and County Population Estimates for Utah: 2021
Estimates for July 1, 2021 indicate that the state added approximately 71,936 people since the 2020 census, reaching an estimated 3,343,552 Utahns. From July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021, the population grew by 58,729 people. This annual growth rate of 1.8% is the highest it has been since 2017. The 2021 estimates indicate a resurgence in high growth as the economy and society return to a new normal during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Insight: A Demographer’s Revisionist History: Intercensal Population Estimates for 2010-2019 Released
By: Emily Harris Dec 3, 2021 – In August 2021, the Census Bureau released the 2020 Census Redistricting data, providing county population totals (among other data points) for April 1, 2020. This data enabled us to revise the Utah Population Committee (UPC) 2010-2019 postcensal population estimates to create intercensal estimates. You can download the new set of intercensal estimates here. It is standard practice to revise postcensal estimates, benchmarked off the previous (2010) census, to terminate at the subsequent (2020) census counts. This process provides a continuous estimate series across Decennial time points. […]
Insight: 2020 1-Year ACS Experimental Data Released
By: Mallory Bateman Nov 30, 2021 New data, with caveats The Census Bureau today released the 2020 1-Year American Community Survey (ACS) Experimental Estimates in 54 summary tables for the nation and states and the accompanying Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). Due to data collection issues and nonresponse bias created during COVID-19, the quality of the data available did not meet the Census Bureau’s standards for a full release. Respondents in 2020 typically had higher educational attainment, higher incomes, and were more likely to own their own homes than the total population. The Census Bureau used administrative data to help[...]
Insight: Shifting Balance Points – Mean Center of Population Release
By: Eric Albers and Mallory Bateman Nov 16, 2021 Mean Center of Population On Tuesday, the Census Bureau released the new mean center of population for the United States based on the 2020 Census. This measure represents the middle point of the country from a population-weighted perspective or the point at which an imaginary, weightless, rigid, and flat surface would balance if each person weighed the same. The mean center of population is different than the geographic center of the nation. Since the first decennial census in 1790, the mean center of population has shifted west and south. In 2020,[...]
Utah’s Demographics and COVID-19 Death Rates: A Data Update
Utah has a lower COVID-19 per-capita death rate (also called the crude death rate, or CDR) than the U.S. as a whole. The national cumulative CDR for the year of April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2020, was 167 deaths per 100,000 people, while the Utah rate was 65 deaths per 100,000 people. A 2020 report attributed a quarter of the CDR difference up through July 1, 2021, to Utah’s younger population.