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Show Population Utah Population by District and County Compiled by Bruce and Gretchen Ratzlaff Utah has both urban and rural regions. In 2002. its main metropolitan population concentration of 1,779,362 persons, comprising 76% if the state's total population, lies within four counties along the Wasatch Front: Salt Lake, Utah. Weber, and Davis. The remaining 25 counties cover approximately 96% of the state's landmass. They are primarily rural, although several are rapidly urbanizing as suburban areas (such as Tooele and Summit) or separate urban centers (such as Washington) (Table 1). Although the Wasatch Front population has increased by a greater number than any other district since 1995, Figure 1 shows that the Southwestern and Mountainland districts have experienced the greatest percent increases in population within the state. Studies looking at the challenges of providing regional health care typically classify populations as "urban" if the population density is at least 1000 residents per square mile, and "frontier" if the density is less than 6 persons per square mile. In Utah, only the four metropolitan counties reach the density of "urban regions," while nearly half of the counties fall in the "frontier" category. This indicates long distances in providing or reaching health care in much of Utah for residents and travelers. But the classification is misleading in that most of the 559,499 persons living in 25 "rural" and "frontier" counties live in what the Census now calls urbanized areas (of at least 50,000 persons) or urban clusters (of 2,500-50,000 persons). Two non-metropolitan counties are at or near populations of 100,000 and support major regional health facilities. In the remaining counties, populations typically concentrate in communities, where all the counties of 15,000 or more and several of those with fewer residents have hospitals able to staff emergency departments. Figure 1. Percentage Change in Utah Population by District, 1995-2002. Bear River n 13.39% Wasatch Front I ' :¦>. Mountainland 1 2 ) 1' Central 112.31% - Southwestern ~] 30.23% Uintah Basin Southeaster | 7.92% Table 1. Utah Population by District and County, 1990-2001. District 1995 2000 2001 2002 County Bear River 124,915 136,097 136,584 139,693 Box Elder 39,077 42,745 43,397 44,032 Cache 84,006 91,391 91,208 93,695 Rich 1,832 1,961 1,979 1,966 Wasatch Front 1,268,008 1,382,830 1,400,100 1,426,111 Davis 214,622 239,994 244,840 249,224 Morgan 6,487 7,181 7,337 7,380 Weber 180,546 196,533 199,435 204,167 Salt Lake 836,008 898,387 904,331 919,308 Tooele 30,345 40,735 44,157 46,032 Mountainland 434,436 413,487 424,714 436,670 Summit 23,902 29,736 31,103 31,857 Utah 398,391 368,536 377,411 387,817 Wasatch 12,143 15,215 16,200 16,996 Central 59,466 66,192 67,191 67,426 Juab 6,813 8,238 8,489 8,569 M illard 12,167 12,405 12,424 12,446 Piute 1,402 1,435 1,387 1,361 Sanpete 19,546 22,763 23,376 23,392 Sevier 17,183 18,842 18,961 19,091 Wayne 2,355 2,509 2,554 2,567 Southwestern 115,542 140,919 146,879 151,450 B eaver 5,394 6,005 6,059 6,099 Garfield 4,311 4,735 4,724 4,584 Iron 27,707 33,779 34,448 35,204 Kane 5,869 6,046 6,058 6,121 Washington 72,261 90,354 95,590 99,442 Uintah Basin 38,908 40,627 41,540 41,885 Daggett 817 921 905 886 Duchesne 13,645 14,371 14,709 14,844 Uintah 24,446 25,224 25,926 26,155 Southeastern 52,902 54,180 52,781 53,021 Carbon 20,296 20,422 19,703 19,879 Emery 10,493 10,860 10,609 10,626 Grand 7,879 8,485 8,633 8,735 San Juan 14,234 14,413 13,836 13,781 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% a2000 Population Density in people per square mile. Sources: Utah Governor's Office of Planning and Budget (2002). 2002 Economic Report to the Governor. Salt Lake City: Government Printing Office. Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume DC 65 |
