Booming Utah County leads state in growth over last decade
Dec 10, 2019, 8:19 AM
Photo Credit: Stock Photo
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah County led the state in huge population growth over the past ten years. It’s not because they’re having more babies than the rest of the state. It’s because there’s more people moving in.
People used to be able to drive between BYU and ZCMI and see a lot of farmland in between. Now though, there seems to be new housing going up all the time.
Smart Asset says Utah County is 9th in the nation for new building permits and second in the state for GDP growth. Those rankings are backed up by the University of Utah which says Utah County’s population grew by 26% from 2010 to 2019 which translates to more than 130,000 new people. Experts say the trend will continue as outsiders look for jobs and cheaper housing.
Tech companies especially fueled the population growth in Utah County, attracted by the workforce and relatively low rent cost. Data from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services company based in Chicago says that Salt Lake City came in second for tech-related commercial leases last year and now has the ninth-largest share of tech tenants in the country.
The University of Utah says Utah is now home to more than 3.2 million people.
