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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns overall rate themselves as having a high quality of life, but they view several top priorities — public schools, job availability and air quality — as areas that need improvement.
In its third biennial Utah Quality of Life Index, the Utah Foundation reports that Utahns are slightly less satisfied with life than they were in 2013, down more than one point, projecting 76.9 out of a possible 100 points.
The score is an average of telephone responses to questions about 20 aspects of life, categorized in six groups: perception of health and safety, eduction, economic vitality, recreation and culture, community and values, and infrastructure.
Overall, the report produced six "action items," or aspects that Utahns deemed as top priorities but viewed as having below-average quality: availability of good jobs, air and water quality, quality public schools, affordable housing, cost of living, and acceptance and respectfulness of individual and group differences.
"If public policy is going to focus on affecting change, those would be the places to start, said Shawn Teigen, Utah Foundation senior research analyst.
Of the report's six categories, health and safety were most important to Utahns, and infrastructure was the least important. In terms of quality, recreation and culture had the highest ranking, while infrastructure had the lowest quality.
More specifically, availability of spiritual or religious activities or groups was ranked first for quality, while traffic conditions on the roads and highways fell in last place.
"People feel pretty good about living here, but there are always things we can improve," Teigen said.
Compared with past reports, Teigen said Utahns' concerns have not changed over the past four years, but also that policymakers have not been able to improve them — at least in the eyes of respondents.
Related:
Poll: Utahns are willing to invest in clean air
A new poll shows Utah residents overwhelmingly want less polluting, more energy efficient homes, cars that have a better smog rating and to use transit more and drive less if that's what it takes to effectively address the air pollution problem.In fact, three aspects showed a significant decrease in quality from the previous year: safety and security from crime, having a family nearby and traffic conditions.
"Either we're not doing enough to affect change or some aspect is always going to be viewed as low quality," Teigen said.
The quality of public schools ranked as the second-most important factor, but it ranked 14th for quality out of the 20 aspects.
"Voters consistently rank K-12 education as one of the top three priorities in the Utah Priorities Survey that Utah Foundation performs each gubernatorial election. Nevertheless, Utah has the lowest per pupil expenditure in the nation since 1988," the report states. "However, per pupil expenditure would be difficult to change due in part to Utah's large family size and large proportion of children in public schools."
While this year's report shows perception of job availability has remained stable over the past four years, Utah's employment growth has been above the national average since 2011, and Utah has continued to be below or near the top five states in the nation with the lowest unemployment rate, staying around mid-3 percent for the past three years.
Yet Utahns are generally unaware of these opportunities or have different qualifications for what is considered to be a good job, the report states.
Air and water quality ranked as the third-most important of the 20 factors but ranked 15th for quality. Affordable, good housing ranked eighth in importance but 18th in quality.
Respondents also ranked acceptance and respectfulness of differences above average in terms of importance but fifth from the bottom in quality.
"That may be because we've had, at least historically, a somewhat homogenous type of population," Teigen said, but if the state continues to diversify as it has been over the last few years, it is possible people will become more accepting of differences.
Or, he said, it could be something Utahns could emphasize more as society.
"In terms of acceptance, what are policymakers going to do there?" Teigen said. "Maybe that is something we personally should really focus on."
