Census: Utah ranked as 3rd fastest growing state in nation

We’ve heard time and time again of population forecasts that predict Utah’s population growing at exponential rates in the next several decades.

Further data to back that claim was released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the Census, Utah is the third fastest-growing state in the nation, with a 1.9 percent growth in population from 2017 to 2018. Nevada and Idaho, Utah’s neighbors, are tied for the fastest-growing states in the nation, both with 2.1 percent growth year over year.

Only nine states lost population, with the highest population lost being from New York, which lost 48,510 people from 2017 to 2018.

“Many states have seen fewer births and more deaths in recent years,” said Sandra Johnson, a demographer/statistician in the Population Division of the Census Bureau, in a press release. “If those states are not gaining from either domestic or international migration they will experience either low population growth or outright decline.”

As of July 1, 2018, Utah had 1,754,208 residents.