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Show Socioeconomic Status Compiled by Brady Kirk Socioeconomic characteristics are collected by federal, state, and local government agencies, and provide measures in order to obtain a snapshot of the relative status of individuals living in various areas. Effects of economic conditions across the nation can be assessed by analyzing both unemployment and poverty rates. Utah continues to be at or near the top of the rankings in household size as compared with the rest of the United States (2.59). Utah's poverty rate is below that of the United States as a whole (11.8%); however, there are many rural counties in the state where the poverty rate is higher than the national average. In fact, one quarter of the population in San Juan County (3,529) is below the federal poverty line. Utah also ranks below the national average for per capita income ($29, 676). In fact, only Summit county ranks above the national average. When analyzing the percentages for each county, it is important to realize how small changes in numbers can make large changes in percentages in small counties. For example, Daggett County has a population of only 921; therefore an unemployment rate of 3.7% represents only 34 people. Table 7. Socioeconomic Characteristics of Utah Counties. Population Per Capita Personal Income ($) (2000) 19,000 22,400 19,000 21,300 14,700 24,400 18,200 17,300 17,500 19,400 16,400 16,000 25,600 17,500 21,800 16,600 17,300 28,100 12,300 14,800 17,400 43,200 17,600 17,900 19,600 22,100 19,600 19,900 22,400 23,907 Unemployment Rate (%) Poverty Rate (%) Average Household Size County (2000) (1990) Beaver 6,005 12,488 Box Elder 42,745 15,218 Cache 91,391 13,259 Carbon 20,422 14,518 Daggett 921 13,253 Davis 238,994 14,994 Duchesne 14,371 12,201 Emery 10,860 12,311 Garfield 4,735 12,436 Grand 8,485 12,556 Iron 33,779 11,951 Juab 8,238 11,674 Kane 6,046 13,288 Millard 12,405 13,493 Morgan 7,129 13,676 Piute 1,435 10,796 Rich 1,961 12,369 Salt Lake 898,387 16,681 San Juan 14,413 8,761 San pete 22,763 11,389 Sevier 18.842 12,446 Summit 29,736 23,297 Tooele 40,735 14,886 Uintah 25,224 11,213 Utah 368,536 12,043 Wasatch 15,215 13,340 Washington 90,354 12,584 Wayne 2,509 10,789 Weber 196,533 16,151 State of Utah 2,233,169 14,996 (2001) 4.0 6.2 3.4 6.8 3.7 4.0 7.5 9.9 9.0 6.4 4.7 6.3 4.1 5.7 4.5 8.7 4.8 4.7 9.3 6.4 5.5 6.9 8.2 5.5 5.0 6.8 3.9 5.2 5.3 5.3 (1999) 7.3 5.7 9.5 12.5 11.7 4.8 15.3 11.3 12.4 10.9 12.6 6.3 13.4 12.5 4.6 13.4 10.5 6.9 26.4 13.4 11.8 5.0 8.5 14.5 9.7 4.1 9.2 10.1 7.9 8.0 (2000) 2.93 3.22 3.24 2.68 2.48 3.31 3.11 3.10 2.92 2.44 3.11 3.31 2.67 3.19 3.48 2.79 3.01 3.00 3.46 3.27 3.03 2.87 3.11 3.05 3.59 3.18 2.97 2.81 2.95 3.13 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau. [Online] http://www.factfinder.census.gov/. Retrieved 2/9/02. Utah Department of Workforce Service. [Online] http://www.dws.state.ut.us/. Retrieved 2/9/02. 2000 County Data: Utah Department of Workforce Services. [Online] http://www.governor.state.ut.us. Retrieved 2/9/02. Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume VIII 55 |