Youthful Utah

RIVERTON — Children shoot hoops and swing at a playground with a view of snow-capped Wasatch peaks, taking advantage of new equipment outside their new school in this blossoming south Salt Lake County community.

Foothills Elementary in Riverton, which opened this school year, now has 768 students. Close to 1,000 students are expected next fall.

"It's amazing," principal Kyle Hansen said. "We have kids enroll every week."

Foothills is part of the fast-growing Jordan School District, and it's not alone.

Utah and Alaska are tied as the nation's states with the youngest populations, according to a U.S. Census Bureau estimate being released today.

As of July 1, 2003, 15 percent of Utah's 2.35 million residents were ages 5 to 13, and 7 percent were 14 to 17, according to the census.

Texas, Arizona, California and Idaho each followed with a 14 percent elementary-school-age population.

There are so many children at Utah schools that the state is becoming a "portable classroom capital," said Mark Peterson, public news director for the Utah State Office of Education.

"This year we have just shy of 487,000 students in the public education system," Peterson said. "Nearly one out of four Utah residents is a public education student. . . . It's a challenge. We've got 21,000-plus teachers out there doing their best."

Utah's young population isn't its only growing category. The state seems to be attracting more seniors as well. The state ranked fourth in its growth rate among seniors. Utah's 65-plus population grew by nearly 7 percent to 203,007.

Nevada's growth rate for seniors of about 15 percent topped the nation.

The Census Bureau released overall state estimates for 2003 last fall. The U.S. population of nearly 291 million is up 3 percent since 2000.

Utah's young population grew by about 4 percent from 2000 to 2003, according to the census. That is opposite of a national downward trend. Nationally, the elementary-school-age population declined by 274,000, according to the census.

While more than half the states' high-school-age populations grew, only 14 states saw an increase in elementary-school-age populations from 2000 to 2003. Nevada led the nation with a 13 percent growth rate, followed by Arizona and Florida.