Newsroom
For all media inquiries, please contact:
Nick Thiriot
Communications Director
nick.thiriot@utah.edu
801-587-3717
News Releases
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. […]
Recent Media Mentions
Utah population tops 3.5 million, but growth rate down slightly
Utah’s population growth slowed slightly in 2024, but the Beehive State still added 50,392 more residents last year, with much of the growth in Utah and Salt Lake counties. Natural growth, the balancing of births to deaths, and migration were about equally responsible for the population increase. Migration numbers take the number of people moving in and out of the state to determine if migration rose or fell. Net migration was responsible for 52% of the growth, while natural increase accounted for 48% of the new residents.
Utah House votes to bump up misdemeanor penalties, a key threshold for deportations
SALT LAKE CITY – Deporting an immigrant or refugee who’s convicted of certain misdemeanors could get easier in Utah. State lawmakers want to increase the maximum penalty for violent class A misdemeanors and charges of driving under the influence to one year. This would walk back a 2019 law that decreased the maximum penalty to 364 days.
Utah’s Fintech Sector Booms with Billion-Dollar Economic Impact and Vision for Growth
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah's fintech sector is making waves with economic impacts that are hard to ignore. A report by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and the Stena Center for Financial Technology highlighted the state's leading position in the fintech movement. Fintech wages in Utah are double the state's average wage and rank third highest among all industries, pumping over $1 billion in wages and more than $7 billion in economic impact into the local economy.
‘Exactly what Olene Walker would want’: Could liquor sales help Utahns buy affordable homes?
SALT LAKE CITY – State Rep. Carol Moss is trying — again — to get millions of dedicated dollars for the Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund. Moss, a Salt Lake City Democrat, is asking her colleagues to divert 25% of liquor sales profit to provide a constant stream of funding for the housing loan fund that, since 1995, has helped build nearly 25,000 units for people with low incomes, according to a report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
How Utah’s outdoors has become the secret to Silicon Slopes’ growth
SALT LAKE CITY — Nate Quigley and his wife, Vanessa, studied at BYU, but it was Utah's mountains, rivers, lakes and desert scenery that kept them coming back to the Beehive State after they started careers. A little over a decade ago, they were living in Florida and preparing to launch a company that would ultimately become Chatbooks — an app that essentially helps users turn digital photos into a scrapbook — when they decided to move back to Utah.
Utah GOP leaders defend Trump’s tariffs while bracing for economic ‘turbulence’
SALT LAKE CITY – As developments surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs threats unfolded Monday, Utah’s Republican leaders defended Trump’s actions as necessary to crack down on the U.S. fentanyl crisis — while also acknowledging potential trade wars could bring higher costs and negative economic impacts. Trump on Saturday had announced plans to implement tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. But by Monday afternoon, his threats against Mexico and Canada were delayed by at least 30 days after leaders of the two countries agreed to increase border security efforts.