Best Online Colleges in Utah

Benefits of Studying Online in Utah

Aside from being an outdoor recreationists dream and being filled with some of the world's best snow powder, Utah continues to beocme a technology hotbed and very strong labor market. The Beehive State is home to just over 3.2 million people (making it the 30th largest state in America), and the state's capitol (Salt Lake City) serves both as the state's central commerce hub as well as agricultural core. Salt Lake reiceves it's name from the massive lake it borders, called the Great Salt Lake, which happens to be the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere (it's the world's 8th largest terminal lake). Salt Lake is also the Utah's largest city, and provides no shortage of employment opportunities for those coming out of school. Although the state houses just 1% of the nation's population, Utah accounts for the 13th most square footage of any state (totalling 84,897 square feet to be exact).

Employment Stats

The economic landscape of Utah is quite attractive, especially when it comes to employment. With more than 1,680,000 employed workers, the state ranks as the nation's 29th largest employer - accounting for just over 1.1% of the nation's workforce. Over the last year that number swelled by an additional 3.19% as the state added about 52,000 jobs on top of the 2021 total of 1,628,000. That growth of 3.19% may seem small, but it actually makes Utah the 23rd fastest growing state by employed persons. Nonetheless, the state still falls abou 297,000 short of the national median (a margin of about -15%).

However, Utah did just top Connecticut, which ranked 30th in the nation with 1,668,000 workers (giving Utah an edge of just 12,000 or 0.72%). Conversely, Utah justs narrowly lost to it's neighbor Oklahoma, which clinched the 28th spot by margin of just 8,000 (Utah had -0.5% less). That being said, the Beehive state fell well short of the nation's leader (-91%), alhtough it's not surprising given that it accounts for just 1.0% of the nation’s population.

Job Opportunities

Utah’s 1.5 million workers are spread across a number of different industries, and the state has about 720 unique job types, from barber to nuclear scientist. That puts Utah almost equivalent to the state median of 722 occupations, a spot held by Louisiana. Sitting just -0.3% below the median, Utah claims the 27th slot for job type quantity among states. This means job diversity is pretty much average when compared to the rest of the nation, so most occupation types are available at least in some capacity.

Utah boasts a number of incredible universities, the highest ranked of which is Brigham Young University. Located along the Wasatch Mountains, students may have a hard time focusing with multiple world-class ski resorts sitting just up the street (Park City, Deer Valley, and the Canyons just to name a few). A bit further north there’s the University of Utah, the highest-ranked state university, home to more than 25,000 students.

Overall, the data points to Utah as an excellent place to consider for studying, as its economy is expected to grow and employment opportunities will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. The combination of a relatively large land area and competitive workforce will give the average student the opportunity to explore both the educational and recreational qualities that Utah has to offer.

*All data sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023)