Millennials the largest generational group in Utah — since 2000

Millennials the largest generational group in Utah — since 2000

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SALT LAKE CITY — Millennials are expected to overtake Baby Boomers this year as the largest generational group in the nation, but a new report says that millennials are already the biggest group right here in Utah — and have been since the year 2000.

The new report that compares Utah millennials to their national counterparts was released by the Utah Foundation, a non-profit public policy research group.

“The idea for this series of reports grew out of previous Utah Foundation research on the state’s projected population growth, which mentioned generational differences on a national level,” research analyst Mallory Bateman said in a press release.

This shift in population could potentially affect the economy, business and political policies. The millennial generation is already affecting the economy in Utah. Salt Lake City business leaders met last summer to discuss how to attract younger adults to their area.

Utah’s four largest generational groups include millennials (born 1981-early 2000s), Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980) and the silent generation (born 1928-1945).

Following the end of World War II, there was a large spike in birth rates, and Baby Boomers have traditionally been the largest generational group around the nation.

Now that millennials, the kids of the Baby Boomers, are overtaking them, corporations and political groups want to know how they like to spend their money and vote, among other things.

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“Groups are producing research to help employers understand them, help developers build what this growing market segment wants and help politicians tailor their campaign messaging to gain new votes,” the report reads.

Utah already had a large Baby Boomer generation, thus helping make Utah’s millennial population the largest one since 2000. Millennials in Utah are more likely to be married with kids and to have college or graduate degrees compared to the national average.

Here are some other interesting findings from the report:

  • Millennials will overtake Baby Boomers as the largest living generation in 2015; this occurred in Utah before 2000. The proportion of Utah Millennials is the second highest in the nation
  • While Utah is less diverse than the nation, the state is trending toward larger non-white populations for Gen Xers and millennials than earlier generations.
  • Fewer children are being born to Utah Millennial women between 20 and 24 and more are born to women between 30 and 34 than previous generations
  • Utahns of all generations are more likely to be married than their national counterparts
  • Utah’s proportion of married, stay-at-home mothers is around 12 percent higher for Gen Xers and millennials than the national average
  • Approximately 30 percent of millennial respondents identify as religiously unaffiliated, which is comparable to their national peers (36 percent) and higher than any other generation in Utah
The data released by Utah Foundation is just part one of four reports on millennials. More data about workplace, financial, social, political and housing issues will be released in the coming weeks.

This report comes on the heels of a newly released U.S. Census report that says Utah's population growth rate is one of the highest in the nation.

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Tracie Snowder

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