Media Mentions

Salt Lake City — Utah has made "significant and meaningful progress" in homeless services but still faces an "urgent and growing" crisis in chronic homelessness, according to a report released Wednesday by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

Salt Lake City — In a Tuesday presentation to the Salt Lake City Council, Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said a new arena entrance would open up to a new plaza, and if the proposal to build a sports district moves forward, renovations to the longtime home of the Jazz would begin next April.

Salt Lake City — Leaders of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games believe they can cover the $2.83 billion 2034 Winter Olympics' operating budget without local, state or federal taxpayer dollars and still "break even" at the very least.

SALT LAKE CITY — A map of the youngest and oldest states in the country shows Utah as having the youngest population. The demographic map, created by Newsweek using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, shows that Utah residents have a median age of 32.1 years old, which is younger than the median age of any other state in the union. Although Utah is the youngest state, a recent report by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah found that the state's population age is gradually increasing because of declining fertility rates and the aging of the adult[...]

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's homeownership rate is higher than the rest of the nation. Yes, but: About 74% of white non-Hispanics own and occupy their homes, compared to 27% of Black households and about 54% of Latino households, per a University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute report. Why it matters: Homeownership remains the biggest driver of the wealth gap, per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Axios' Brianna Crane reports.

SALT LAKE CITY — Almost 1 in 4 Utahns identify as a racial or ethnic minority, with Latinos making up the largest group, according to a recent analysis. Why it matters: As the Beehive State becomes more racially diverse, health, income and education inequities persist among communities of color. By the numbers: From 2010-2020, people of color fueled 52% of the state's growth, according to a report by the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

SALT LAKE CITY — Many Utahns ‘find themselves in the middle of the caregiving role and they don’t really even know where to get started,’ one health department official said. Caregivers in Utah face a conundrum. They often feel like they aren’t doing enough and yet are exhausted simultaneously, said Linda Cole, deputy director of aging and family services for Mountainland Association of Governments.

SALT LAKE CITY — While nine out of 10 people in Utah live in urban areas, researchers from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute are finding that some demographics and socioeconomic for rural areas are not as different as they might have suspected. They analyzed U.S. Census data from 2020, which showed that people who lived in Utah’s urban and rural communities surprisingly shared similar income levels, household types, and educational levels.

SALT LAKE CITY — Since the 1990s, Utah has grown and changed, becoming increasingly diverse. According to a new report, nearly one in four Utahns identifies as a racial or ethnic minority, and Hispanic Utahns now account for roughly 15% of the state’s population. Published this month, the Utah Demographic Characteristics data book from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute offers a snapshot of the state’s demographic profile, describing Utah as a “youthful, aging and predominantly urban state.”

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s distinctive demographic profile features a youthful, aging, and predominantly urban state that is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. This update to the 2021 data book from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute on Utah’s demographic characteristics reveals significant variation and marked differences in the economic, education, health, and housing outcomes by age, disability, ethnicity, geographic location (urban/rural), race, and sex.