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Personal Income

Utah County’s average family 2000 yearly income was $53,219 – in the 88^th percentile in the nation. The state’s average family income is $53,065.

High Quality Workforce.

Utah workers are young; they still have many years left to invest into their careers. The state’s median age is 26.9, the youngest in the United States and eight years younger than the national average. Utah County’s median age is 22; Sanpete County, 24; Juab County, 28.

Utah workers are also healthy; Utahn’s life expectancy is 77.7 years old, higher than all the states except Hawaii and Minnesota.

In addition to youth and good health, Utah workers are well-educated and computer literate, in fact, Utahns lead the nation in personal computer ownership.

In Utah County, 88  percent of the workforce has a high school diploma and 27 percent are college graduates.

Well-diversified Economic Structure From copper mining to tourism, from biomedical industries to hardware and software, Utah – ranked 13^th in the nation and second in the West in economic diversity – employs the gamut. Economic diversity keeps an economy stable even when one major industry falls. For example, when Corel decided to close its Utah-based operations 1998, 340 Utahns lost their jobs, but were immediately absorbed into the local workforce.

People are talking about Utah County. Money magazine has said:

·         “If you imagine Provo and Orem as quaint, rural hamlets, consider this: The area is home to more than 80 software companies. . . This may be the best educated county in the nation as well.” (September 1991, p. 139)

·         “Newcomers can’t resist the region’s bang-up combination of economic strength and it striking location... People also feel safe here.” (September 1994)

·          Provo has remained on the magazine’s top 35 of the best places to live in the nation for 6 consecutive years.

·          Provo was also deemed one of the best cities for future job growth. (October 1999).

·         Money magazine is not alone.  Forbes magazine said, “(Utah County) has become the site of something unexpected and undeniably important for American High Technology.

·         U.S. News & World Report said, “Utah is emerging as one of the nation’s premier high-tech meccas, with more software enterprises than California’s Silicon Valley and one of the nation’s largest concentrations of biotech companies.” The magazine also said that “The Beehive State (Utah) is also a veritable job machine that, for the most part, sidestepped the protracted recession.” (February 23, 1993)

·         And the Economist described Utah County as “the world’s second-biggest swathe of software and computer-engineering firms after California’s Silicon Valley.” (April 23, 1994)