Northern Utah’s Job Market

Some 3,506,838 residents, or nearly 75% of Utah’s population, lives within a narrow metropolitan region that stretches from the southern end of Utah County north to Brigham City, in Box Elder County. Davis and Weber Counties are the two most  populace counties on the north end of this metropolitan region; these two counties account for 649,954, which is 18.5% of Utah’s population.

Job growth in Northern Utah is more than double the national average. With average wages below the national average and labor force participation rate above the national average, the Northern Utah region is one of the strongest, hardest-working economies in the nation.

Source: Utah Population Committee, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

Employment Density

Every region has industry expertise—Northern Utah has many. With legacy industries such as aerospace and manufacturing, to innovative advanced composites and outdoor products industries, to an emerging financial services and tech presence, Northern Utah has the labor and supply chain you need.

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY

Source: JobsEQ, Data as of 2023Q3

Wage Comparisons

Everyone needs labor and Northern Utah makes hiring employees easy. With wages below the national average and a well-educated workforce, this region brings motivated and educated employees to a diverse group of employers.

Metropolitan Wage Comparison

Wage comparisons in some key industries in competitive markets. Northern Utah has the same talent and skill as larger markets, we’re just more affordable.

HOUSEHOLD MEDIAN INCOME (DOLLARS)

Source: ACS 2022 5-year estimates

Employee Characteristics

Young, educated, and affordable. The rest is in the details.

Age

Northern Utah has more people in the left boxes and fewer in the right boxes. What does that mean? Our region is young. Which means a well-trained workforce for today, and a strong pipeline for tomorrow.

GENDER & AGE DEMOGRAPHICS — NORTHERN UTAH

Source: ACS 2023 1-year estimates data profiles

Educational Attainment

The middle bars and the biggest. It’s true, our PhD population is not quite as large as LA, but if need employees to work, we have the right mix of trade, professional, and a whole lot of grit.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Source: ACS 2022 1-year summary, table B15002

Commuting Flows & Patterns

COMMUTING FLOWS FOR WEBER-DAVIS AREA—2019
Group  Outflow  Internal Remote  Internal Commuting  Inflow 
Age Age 16-38  34,101  8,980  116,063  11,103 
Age 39+  37,486  13,538  100,095  12,213 
Industry Goods  14,744  3,333  43,423  7,860 
Services  56,843  19,185  172,735  15,456 
Wages $0-$40,000  21,543  10,332  109,240  7,722 
$40,001+  50,044  12,186  106,918  15,594 
TOTAL 71,587  22,518  216,158  23,316 

Source: Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 American Community Survey 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample data

COMMUTING FLOWS FOR WEBER-DAVIS AREA—2022
Group  Outflow  Internal Remote  Internal Commuting  Inflow 
Age Age 16-38  26,708  23,938  110,791  12,614 
Age 39+  34,772  38,726  93,164  15,412 
Industry Goods  16,288  9,841  43,242  8,388 
Services  45,192  52,823  160,713  19,638 
Wages $0-$40,000  21,141  25,281  112,429  12,137 
$40,001+  40,339  37,383  91,526  15,889 
TOTAL 61,480  62,664  203,955  28,026 

Source: Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 American Community Survey 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample data

Technical Note: The age and earnings groups shown in the tables above are based on the median age of workers in 2019 (38) and median worker earnings in 2019, expressed in 2022 dollars, rounded to the nearest ten thousand. (Exact median worker earnings in 2019, expressed in 2022 dollars, is $43,500.) Estimates shown in the tables above are based on a survey sample of Davis and Weber counties. The precision of these estimates is measured by their standard error. For the estimates shown in these tables, standard errors range from 2.5% to 15.8% of the estimates themselves. In general, this range indicates these estimates have reasonably high precision.