News Releases
Federal housing programs provided $482.6 million in financial assistance to Utah in FY2022
April 25, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – States and the federal government share a vital economic relationship. This data summary, the tenth in a series on state and federal economic linkages from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, presents the Utah-federal government nexus for federal housing assistance. […]
Utah’s Marriage Trends: Young, Married, and Changing
April 22, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s distinctive marriage demographics set it apart from the nation. A new report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows that Utah has the highest percentage of married adult residents in the nation (54.9%) and comparatively small shares of widowed and divorced residents. In 2023, Utah’s female marriage rate was also the highest in the nation. Adding to these distinctive marriage demographics, Utahns marry younger than residents in every other state. […]
Marriage Penalties in Utah: Taxes, Programs, and Federal Program Ties
April 22, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Various state and federal tax provisions and programs may create a “marriage penalty” or a “marriage bonus.” A new report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute focuses on selected state-level policies to determine whether they create different levels of marriage penalties, many of which tie directly to federal policies carried into state-administered programs. […]
Utah’s Peer Support Specialists: Understanding Peer Support Training and Workforce Development
April 17, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Peer support specialists are “individuals who use their lived experience in recovery from mental health and/or substance use disorder…to deliver services promoting recovery and resilience.” The Utah 2025 Peer Support Specialist Workforce Survey, conducted by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and Utah Peer Network, suggests ways to effectively engage peer support specialists as part of an integrated care team and help address retention, burnout, and turnover challenges. […]
Utah’s median household income of $98,336 ranks highest in the U.S. when adjusted for price parity
April 10, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Median household income provides helpful insights into a region’s overall economic well-being. A new research brief from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute details how Utah’s median household income has ranked high in recent years relative to other states, meaning Utah’s middle-income households earn more on average than middle-income households in other states. After adjusting for cost-of-living differences between states, Utah’s median household income of $98,336 ranks highest in the country, nearly 27% higher than the U.S. average of $77,719. […]
Utah Consumer Sentiment Decreased in March
April 7, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s consumer sentiment fell 8.0% in March, from 88.1 in February to 81.1, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment. A similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan measured an even more significant decline (11.9%) in sentiment among Americans as a whole. […]
Utah’s fertility rate dropped to 1.801 in 2023, sliding from 4th highest to 10th highest in the U.S.
April 4, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – U.S. and Utah fertility rates, which can be thought of as births per woman, continued a long-term decline in 2023, according to recent data released by the CDC National Center for Health Statistics and analyzed by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The U.S. total fertility rate (TFR) was 1.621 in 2023, a 2.1% decline from 1.656 in 2022. Utah’s TFR has now declined or stayed constant for 15 consecutive years, dropping to 1.801 in 2023, a 2.8% decline from 1.853 in 2022. […]
Utah leads the nation in GDP growth, reflecting a strong overall 2024 economy
April 3, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth led the nation in 2024, reaching 4.5%, compared to the nation’s 2.8% growth, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and analyzed by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Additionally, Utah’s nominal GDP surpassed $300 billion for the first time, averaging $301 billion for the year and ending at $308 billion. Statewide personal income grew 6.1% from 2023 to 2024, ranking Utah 4th highest among states. […]
Utah received $4.4 billion in federal research and development funding in FY 2023
April 2, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – States and the federal government share a vital economic relationship. This data summary, the ninth in a series on state and federal economic linkages from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, presents the Utah-federal government nexus for research funding. […]
Utahns paid an estimated $42.8 billion in federal taxes and received $38.1 billion in federal dollars in federal fiscal year 2022
April 1, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – States and the federal government share a vital economic relationship. This data summary, the eighth in a series on state and federal economic linkages from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, presents the Utah-federal government nexus for the payment balance between taxes paid by Utahns to the federal government and funds allocated to Utah from the federal government. […]