Community Assessment

Utah Census 2000 Top Ten

1. Fourth fastest growing state

– Utah was the fourth fastest growing state in the country during the 1990s, growing 29.6% from 1990 to 2000. Utah grew more than twice as fast as the U.S. (13.2%) during this ten year period and increased by 510,319 people (equivalent to nearly five cities the size of Provo).

2. Utah is in the middle of the fastest growing region in the country

– Utah, as well as four of its neighboring states, ranked as the five fastest growing states in the country during the last decade. In rank order they are Nevada (66.3% increase), Arizona (40.0%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%) and Idaho (28.5%).

3. Youngest population in the country

– Utah continues to have the youngest population in the country with nearly one-third of the population under 18 years of age in 2000.

4. Hispanic population more than doubled

– Utah’s Hispanic population increased from 84,597 in 1990 to 201,559 in 2000, a 138.3% increase. Nearly one in every ten Utahans is now Hispanic.
Carbon, Salt Lake, Tooele, and Weber Counties have the highest percent of Hispanics compared to their total population.

5. Three in every four people live in the northern metropolitan area

– Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah County are home to 1,702,450 residents, 76% of the state’s population.

6. Rapid growth around the urban fringe

– Five of the state’s fastest growing counties form a ring of high growth counties around the northern metropolitan counties. These counties, and their
1990-2000 percent increase, include Summit (91.6%), Tooele (53.1%), Wasatch (50.8%), Juab (41.6%) and Sanpete (40.0%).

7. Summit County is Utah’s fastest growing county

– Summit County nearly doubled in size during the past decade, increasing from 15,518 in 1990 to 29,736 in 2000. Seventy percent of the growth occurred in the unincorporated area.

8. Southern Utah’s rapid growth continues

– Washington and Iron County were the second and third fastest growing counties, respectively, in the state during the 1990s. Washington County, with an 86.1% increase from 1990-2000, grew at nearly three times the state rate, and Iron County, with a 62.5% increase from 1990-2000, grew at just more than twice the state rate.

9. Draper leads the way among large cities

– Among the largest cities in the state (greater than
9,000), Draper City was the fastest growing, more than tripling in size since 1990. Several other of the state’s largest cities doubled in size over the decade, including South Jordan, Lehi, Riverton, and Syracuse.

10. Biggest surprise: Sandy City

– Sandy City was thought to have just over 100,000 residents.

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