Utah
Census data: These 2 Utah counties have the lowest median ages in the nation
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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah remains the youngest state in the nation by a wide margin. However, it’s still aging like the rest of the country, according to newly released federal data.
The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday unveiled new age characteristics tied to U.S. states and counties in 2022, finding that Utah continues to have the youngest median age at 31.9 years of age — more than three years younger than any other state and seven years younger than the national average.
The bureau adds that Utah County (25.7 years of age) and Cache County (25.8) have the lowest median ages among counties with populations of at least 100,000 or more. They are two of only seven U.S. counties with at least 100,000 residents to have a median age below 30 years. Iron County (30.3), Juab County (30.4) and Tooele County (32) rounded out Utah’s top five in youngest median ages.
But Utah — and most of its counties — aren’t getting any younger, either, which experts say is a sign that birth rates are still down. This was already evident through another Census Bureau report that estimates the percentage of Utahns younger than 18 dropped from 29% during the 2020 census to 27.6% by 2022.
The bureau’s new report acknowledges that no states experienced any decreases in median age from 2021 to 2022. Utah’s median age is up by 0.1 years from last year’s estimate, as is the national average. Even Utah and Cache counties are either up slightly or haven’t changed from last year.
Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s population division, said Thursday there are still more births than deaths in the U.S., but the number of births in 2022 is still much lower than it was many years ago. It’s a trend that many U.S. and Utah demographers say began with the Great Recession in 2008.
“While natural change nationally has been positive … birth rates have gradually declined over the past two decades,” Wilder said in a statement. “Without a rapidly growing young population, the U.S. median age will likely continue its slow but steady rise.”
Daggett County (48.5) has the oldest median age among Utah counties, while Maine (44.8) has the oldest median age among the U.S. states.
The growing median age could have various ramifications, some of which are already playing out in Utah.
State auditors issued a report earlier this year that found enrollment in the Salt Lake City School District dropped 17% between fall 2013 and fall 2022 as a result of fewer children in the district. They wrote the district would need to close at least six schools to reach 75% utilization of the district’s building space.
It’s a topic other districts across the state may have to consider if birth rates continue to fall. That said, those trends could change in the near future.
“The future is not set,” Mike Hollingshaus, senior demographer at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, told KSL.com in April. “If you had (a baby boom), then your birthrates would go up considerably and that would certainly change things.”