WalletHub Puts Utah In Top Ten States For Living, Working, Learning

If you already live in Utah, there probably isn’t much convincing required that the Beehive State is a pretty good place to call home. But now there’s a ranking to back up at least some of that hometown bias.

WalletHub’s latest analysis puts Utah seventh among all 50 states in its list of the best states to live in. Utah scored 58.63 points, just behind sixth-place Wyoming and well within shouting distance of the top-ranked state, Idaho. The study, updated Aug. 10, examined 51 different measures covering affordability, the economy, education and health, quality of life and safety.

an aerial view of a canyon in the mountains

Utah’s strengths are fairly impressive. The state ranks fifth nationally in education and health and eighth in affordability. It also ranks 13th in the economy. WalletHub points to Utah’s low poverty rate and strong income growth as important contributors to its economic showing.

Utah Has Nations 2nd Lowest Poverty Rate

In fact, Utah has the nation’s second-lowest poverty rate, while its income growth ranks fourth. Those are numbers worth bragging about, particularly when the conversation turns to whether Utah’s economy is working for the people who actually live here.

Then there’s a statistic that might surprise anyone who has ever watched the morning commute along Interstate 15: Utah ranks first in the nation for having the lowest average weekly work hours.

white suv on road near brown mountain during daytime

So, apparently, we’re working less and making more. Maybe there is something to this Utah thing after all.

Read More: What Gives Your Life Direction?

But WalletHub’s report isn’t exactly a love letter to the state. Utah ranks only 29th in quality of life and 19th in safety. That quality-of-life ranking is particularly interesting because Utah’s spectacular scenery and seemingly endless opportunities for hiking, skiing, fishing and generally getting away from civilization would seem to give us a head start.

Apparently, mountains don’t count for everything.

And that’s an important caveat to any ranking like this. WalletHub isn’t declaring Utah objectively the seventh-best place on Earth. It is measuring the state against a particular collection of statistics and assigning them particular weights. Change the recipe and you can change the cake.

a view of the mountains from the top of a mountain

Still, seventh out of 50 is nothing to sneeze at. Utah ranks ahead of Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, while Wyoming is sixth and Idaho is No. 1.

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For those of us already here, perhaps the biggest takeaway is simple: Utah has plenty of room for improvement, but according to the numbers, we’re doing something right.