Utah’s growth rate is slowing, yet exurb counties continue to grow

Salt Lake City — The newest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau were released, and Utah’s growth rate is lower than usual.

The reported growth rate in 2021 was 1.68%. That rate has now dropped to 1.25% in 2022. 

“Net migration, this year, in particular, has slowed for the state. So we have less people moving into the state than we do typically,” said Emily Harris senior demographer for the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

Harris said that internal issues, like high housing prices, are some factors that may be contributing to the lower net migration. 

These lower numbers are mainly reflected in Utah’s bigger counties, like Salt Lake, Davis, and Wasatch.

That said, smaller counties outside of the cities have been steadily growing.

“The overall state number is lower than we’re used to seeing, and a lot of that has to do with the Salt Lake County number. But we’re just still seeing a lot of growth in places like Tooele, Juab, Utah, kind of those ring counties,” Harris said.

Tooele County is one of these ring areas and is currently the fastest-growing county in Utah at 4.2%.

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