Good News for Utah

Good News for Utah


Three of Utah's metro areas were included in the top-ten fastest growing metropolitan areas in a report released by the Census Bureau this month. The Provo-Orem, Logan, and St. George metro areas all made the top-ten list. The reports list 363 metropolitan areas throughout the nation.

The Provo-Orem metro area saw population growth of 3.4 percent, which was the sixth highest in the nation. The Logan metro area ranked ninth nationally with a 3.2 percent increase, and coming in at number ten was the St. George metro area with a 3.1 percent increase.

While the bulk of Utah's population growth came via natural growth, which is the difference between births and deaths in a year, one-third of Utah's growth came from in-migration from outside the state. This is an indication of Utah's overall economic strength.

Although the economy has slowed down, Utah is still outperforming most of the nation and is maintaining a substantially lower unemployment rate. This would indicate that we will still continue to see an increase in net in-migration to the state. "Business leaders and individuals, even internationally, are recognizing the long term trends in Utah. The state is being recognized as a long term 'hot spot' and companies must plan for the long-term; they want stability and security," says, Pam Perlich senior research economist at the University of Utah.