‘Young and diverse.’ A look into the second largest racial, ethnic group in Utah

As National Hispanic Heritage Month has begun in Utah and around the country, a look at the Latino and Hispanic population shows a young and vibrant group. And perhaps more diverse than meets the eye.
The University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute recently released a fact sheet, “Exploring Utah’s Hispanic or Latino Groups: A Detailed Analysis.” This analysis looked into the size, growth, age and specific demographics of the Latino and Hispanic population of Utah, finding that this population is younger than the rest of Utah.
Heidi Prior, a public policy analyst at the policy institute, was the primary author on the fact sheet. The information in the analysis came from the 2020 U.S. Census.
“The largest purpose is just to provide a really thorough in-depth look at Utah’s Hispanic and Latino population,” Prior said. “We have half a million Hispanic and Latino residents in the state. That’s 15% of our population. So it’s a really huge group of people that merits some attention and some research.”
Utah’s Latino and Hispanic population is the second largest racial or ethnic group in the state.
“So when I think about the Hispanic population, I think of this fast growing group that’s very diverse, coming from lots of different ethnic origins and countries,” Prior said. “I also think of a very young population.”
Prior emphasized the fact that Utah’s Hispanic and Latino population is so young. According to the fact sheet, Utah’s median age is 31.3 years, while the median age of Utah’s Hispanic population is 25.4 years.
Fewer than 1 in 20 Hispanic Utahns are age 65 or older but more than 1 in 8 non-Hispanic Utahns are over 65.
Youth under the age of 18 make up 35.8% of Utah’s Hispanic population, while only 27.8% of Utah’s non-Hispanic population are under 18.
“We have a young population to begin with, and then our Hispanic population is even younger,” Prior said.
Hispanic Utahns make up more than 15% of the state’s total population.
The Hispanic population within Utah also made up a major portion of the state’s population growth between 2010 and 2020, with 1 in 4 of new Utah residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino.
Specific cities in Utah gained more Hispanic residents in this 10-year period than the rest of the state. Those three cities are West Valley City, West Jordan and Herriman.
In the analysis Prior also looked at the Hispanic populations in each of Utah’s counties, finding that this population is concentrated along the Wasatch Front. More than 8 in 10 of Utah’s Hispanics live in either Weber, Davis, Salt Lake or Utah counties. The majority of Utahns in general live in these counties, with 75.5% of the state’s population there.
In the 2020 census a new feature was added to questionnaire. In the race portion of the survey there was a fill in the blank option, which allowed people to be more specific in their race identity.
“So if you were Hispanic or Latino, you could check a box indicating that you identified as Hispanic or Latino, but then you could also write in how you identified in a more detailed way, like, I’m Venezuelan, I’m Spanish, I’m Mexican, and Chilean,” Prior said. “As a demographer, it was really exciting to get that detailed data about how people self identify.”
This detailed information was released by the Census Bureau about a year ago.
Thanks to this new detailed data, the policy center was able to do a more in-depth and detailed analysis into Utah’s Hispanic population than was possible before.
According to the fact sheet, “Hispanic or Latino Utahns belong to four regional groups and identify as 30 different detailed origins, including Mexican, Dominican, and Chilean.”
One in 10 Utahns identify as Mexican, making up two-thirds of Utah’s Hispanic or Latino Population. According to Prior, this isn’t surprising since Utah is in the Southwest, but it is different than the demographics found on the East Coast.
Utah’s Hispanics most commonly identify as Mexican (326,430), Spaniard (14,489), Salvadoran (14,426), Peruvian (12,488) or Spanish (11,981).
The largest share of Chilean residents in the U.S. is in Utah, with 0.2% of Utahns identifying as Chilean. Utah also has the country’s second largest share of Argentine and Venezuelan residents.
Utah’s Venezuelan population is the state’s fastest growing Hispanic group, having almost quadrupled between 2010 and 2020.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is currently underway. It started on Sept. 15 and goes until Oct. 15.
“It’s important for this data to be out there all the time,” Prior said. “But Hispanic Heritage Month is a great event to remind us about this part of our population And the contribution that they make.”
According to KSL.com, the timing of Hispanic Heritage Month lines up with the independence anniversaries of several countries, Sept. 15 in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua; Sept. 16 in Mexico; and Sept. 18 in Chile.
There are a variety of events in Utah celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, and a few of them have already happened such as The Utah Central American Festival, a Latino Festival in Logan and a celebration to mark the 214th anniversary of Mexico’s independence hosted by the Mexican Consulate of Utah.
One of the upcoming Hispanic Heritage Events in Utah is a Latino and Hispanic Heritage event on Sept. 23 in North Salt Lake, per KSL.com.
The Utah Symphony is also putting on a Celebración Sinfónica event at Abavanel Hall on Sept. 27 and 28.