Utah population booming

Utah is and will no doubt remain among the country's fastest-growing states, according to new estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Utah is third in percentage of population growth, behind Arizona and No. 1 Nevada, according to the growth estimates between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007.

"We're not at all surprised," state demographer Juliette Tennert said Wednesday evening. "This is a further indication of how well our economy is doing to draw people in for jobs."

Utah has added a total of 65,795 new residents, according to the estimate, or a total to 2,645,330.

The state's own board of demographers — the Utah Population Estimates Committee — expected the increase but continue to believe the total increase is actually about twice as much. With their estimates, the population increased by 120,039, giving the state a total population of 2,699,554.

A more detailed county-by-county estimate by the Census will be released in March, Tennert said, "and we're pretty sure we will show a 3.2 percent increase, not the 2.6 percent shown today."

The net in-migration is 33,000 and "natural increase," or number of babies born, will be around 41,000. The Census Bureau determines the estimates by looking at births, deaths and migration into and out of each state.

"In any case, this is an interesting and exciting time in the demographic history of the state," she said. "As long as people are coming is an indication that the economy is making room."

Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho are the top four states in term of percentage growth, with Georgia fifth. Colorado and Wyoming are other Western states in the top 10, along with Texas, North Carolina South Carolina.

Nevada is No. 1 again after holding the title for 19 years in a row before being bumped by Arizona last year. The state has also nearly passed Utah in terms of total population.

Arizona is the second-fastest-growing state, with a population increase of 2.8 percent to 6.3 million.

Elsewhere in the country, Louisiana appears to be rebounding from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, gaining 50,000 residents after losing approximately 250,000 residents following the hurricane. But despite the gain, the state's population is still far below its pre-Katrina population of 4.5 million, although more than half of the gain was attributable to people moving into the state.

Florida, a state whose economy has been fueled largely by a steady stream of retirees crossing the border each year, gained in population but at a slower rate than usual. Florida was the 19th-fastest-growing state through July 2007 compared with the previous year when it ranked ninth.