March 29, 2024

Slow growth projected for Carbon and Emery counties

Utah is projected to grow by another 2.2 million people by 2060, but only about 3,000 of those will be
added to Carbon and Emery counties, according to the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy
Institute.

Utah is projected to grow by another 2.2 million people by 2060, but only about 3,000 of those will be
added to Carbon and Emery counties, according to the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy
Institute.
Growth in the two counties will be driven mostly by people moving into the area rather than the
natural increase of births minus deaths, says Mallory Bateman, director of demographic research for the
institute.
Carbon County will add nearly 2,000 residents and 1,400 new jobs by 2060, she says, while Emery will
grow by 900 people and 385 jobs.
Utah will continue to boom. The state’s population will be almost 5.5 million by 2060, a 66% increase.
The institute says the state will hit 4 million residents by 2033 and 5 million by 2051. It projects 1.3
million jobs in Utah over the next four decades. Construction workers will be most in demand.
Salt Lake and Utah counties will continue to be the dominant drivers for population and the economy,
Bateman says.
Utah’s future growth, while robust, will be slower from the past four decades when the state’s
population tripled. In 1980, only 1.06 million people lived in Utah.