'Uncle Sam's Almanac' says Utah has high prices, short commutes

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is America's fourth-largest religious denomination. Prices in Utah are higher than average, while wages are much lower than average. Utah has the second-highest percentage of households that use the Internet but one of the lowest rates of newspaper subscribers.

Those are among tidbits of data in the new "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2009," often called "Uncle Sam's Almanac," released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. It has nearly 1,400 tables and charts of data on everything from A (aquaculture) to Z (zinc production).

The mounds of data (available at census.gov) also give some glimpses at where Utah, or institutions important to its residents, rank compared to others. Following are some examples:

RELIGION: The LDS Church is now America's fourth largest individual church denomination with an estimated 5.8 million members. It is behind only the Roman Catholic Church, 67.5 million; the Southern Baptist Convention, 16.3 million; and the United Methodist Church, 8 million, according to Table 75 in the book.

Still, only a tiny fraction of Americans are Mormon — just 1.7 percent, according to Table 74 in the book. In comparison, 51.3 percent of Americans are Protestant; 23.9 percent are Catholic; 16.1 percent are unaffiliated; followed next in order by Mormons.

The book's Table 76 also reports that Utah has the highest number of residents who were adherents of Christian churches in 2000, 74.3 percent. (The national average was only 47.4 percent).

PRICES: Contrary to popular belief, prices were higher in the Salt Lake City metro area in 2007 than the national average.

Items that would cost $100 on average nationally would cost $100.70 in Salt Lake City.

Specifically, groceries that would cost $100 on average nationally would cost $102.30 in Salt Lake, and transportation that would cost $100 nationally would cost $103.50. But housing that would cost $100 nationally would cost only $98 in Salt Lake, $100 worth of utilities would cost only $87.40 and $100 worth of health care would cost only $99.30.

Meanwhile, the average wage per employee in Utah was $35,130 in 2006 (10th lowest among the states), well below the national average of $42,535.

COMMUNICATION: An estimated 82 percent of Utah households used the Internet in 2007, second in the nation behind only Alaska (at 84.3 percent). The national average was 71 percent.