Newsroom
For all media inquiries, please contact:
Nick Thiriot
Communications Director
nick.thiriot@utah.edu
801-587-3717
News Releases
Gardner Institute honors community leaders with 2025 “Informed Decision Maker of the Year” Award
May 8, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Each year, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute recognizes individuals and entities that work, often behind the scenes and with little fanfare, to help our community prosper. We call them “Informed Decision Makers” and select them based on criteria consistent with the Institute’s committable core values: Responsibility to the community, research integrity and relevance, accountability, collaboration, positivity, and passion. […]
Utah exported $18.2 billion of goods in 2024, supporting over 70,000 jobs
May 8, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s international trade sector continued to be a powerful driver of the state’s economy in 2024, with $18.2 billion in goods exports supporting 70,171 jobs, according to a new report released today by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The report details the significant contributions of exports to Utah’s economy, including nearly $8.0 billion to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) and $15.9 billion to the state’s gross output. […]
Utah Consumer Sentiment Declined Slightly in April
May 7, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s consumer sentiment fell slightly in April (down 1.4%), from 81.1 in March to 80.0, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumer Sentiment. A similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan measured a significantly steeper decline (8.4%) in sentiment among Americans as a whole. While four of the five questions comprising the state index showed little movement this month, the question gauging expectations for business conditions in the near future declined 8.6%. U.S. consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, has declined 29.5% since December, [...]
Utah’s Energy Sector: Abundance, Diversity, and Technological Change
May 1, 2025 (Salt Lake City) – Utah’s energy sector continues to evolve as the forces of supply, demand, and technological change influence production and competition. The state benefits from abundant and diverse energy resources, including large reserves of conventional fossil fuels and several areas suitable for renewable resource development. A new research brief documents Utah’s record crude oil production in 2024, an exponential increase in utility-scale PV solar capacity, a return as a net energy exporter, and other details of Utah’s evolving energy landscape. […]
Recent Media Mentions
Utah’s household income is highest in the nation when compared to the cost of living. Here’s why.
Utah’s average household has more buying power than anywhere else in the nation, according to research from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. That’s despite rising housing costs and reflects the Beehive State’s strong economic growth, Gardner Institute economists said.
3 things to know about Utah’s housing market right now
The spring homebuying season in Utah is off to a slow start. At least that’s how Dejan Eskic, who studies the housing market at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, describes it.
Do Utah policies create a marriage ‘penalty’ or a ‘bonus’?
SALT LAKE CITY – The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute recently dived into tax policies, as well as benefit and other programs, to see if Utah’s government policies create “marriage penalties” or “marriage bonuses.” It found a mixed bag.
Utah has the highest household income in the U.S. when adjusted for cost of living
SALT LAKE CITY – The data comes from a report by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute on Utahn’s purchasing power. “A lot of times we think about income just at a really high level, it's money coming in. But as you start digging into the economic data, it turns out there are a bunch of different ways to measure that,” Kem C. Gardner Chief Economist Phil Dean said on KPCW's "Local News Hour."
Why U.S. national security could depend on the Utah-Canada mining partnership
MONTREAL — Gov. Spencer Cox kicked off a weeklong trade mission to Canada on Monday by telling top Quebec officials about Utah’s best-in-the nation economy. The state had the highest gross domestic product growth in the United States last year at 4.5%, according to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
Utah slides to No. 10 for fertility in U.S.
SALT LAKE CITY – U.S. and Utah fertility rates are continuing a years-long slide, landing in both cases below the 2.1 births per woman that would keep the population size stable. That’s according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national Center for Health Statistics. An analysis of the numbers by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found the U.S. fertility rate in 2023 — the last year with complete data — was 1.521, down 2.1% from the year before.
