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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns care about safety, public education and jobs, but don't think the state is performing well in those areas, according to a quality of life report released by the Utah Foundation.
The neutral public policy foundation surveyed 621 Utahns and had them rank how important they view factors like air and water quality, public schools and public transportation. Respondents then scored each factor based on how well they think the state performs in those areas.
Overall, Utahns scored their quality of life at 77.2 out of 100.
Stephen Kroes, president of the Utah foundation, said his organization, along with Intermountain Healthcare, will conduct similar surveys every other year to chart changes in how residents view quality of life.
"I think the biggest value of this report is how we're going to track it in the future," Kroes said. "It's going to be interesting to see how these quality scores change over time."
I think the biggest value of this report is how we're going to track it in the future. It's going to be interesting to see how these quality scores change over time.
–Stephen Kroes
At the end of the survey, respondents were asked what single factor they would like lawmakers to improve. The most common answer was public education.
"We're not trying to slam the education system," Kroes said. "But there are these concerns that parents perennially have in Utah."
The report shows Utahns consider public education to be one of the most important contributions to quality of life — second only to safety and security. Yet they ranked the actual quality of the public education system 14th out of the 20 survey factors.
Meanwhile, Utahns seem to think higher education is both important and performs well, ranking it 6th in importance and 5th in quality.
"We do have some fine institutions and I think people recognize that," Kroes said. "I think that is Utah's reputation. …(People think) we struggle with public education but we make up for it with a high quality higher education system."
There was also some intriguing information regarding the importance respondents placed on social factors related to family. Utahns surveyed said having family nearby was one of the least important contributing factors to quality of life.
"It's not something we expect lawmakers to do anything about," Kroes said, but it is interesting.
The importance of spiritual and religious activities ranked around the middle of the 20 factors affecting quality of life, yet respondents ranked it highest in terms of how well the state performs.
The report contrasted national rankings for some factors with Utahns' perceptions, and the results were often incongruous. While national reports rank Utah's public transportation system 6th in the nation, Utahns ranked it second to last in importance as well as quality.
Kroes said that may be due to the fact public transportation is only utilized by a small percentage of Utah residents.
"It's not something others are going to rate highly if they never use it," he said.
Email:mfarmer@ksl.com
