Across the United States, the Millennial generation — those born from 1981 through the early years of the 21st Century — are just now surpassing the Baby Boom generation (born 1946-1964) as the largest population group. In Utah, Millennials have been the largest cohort since 1997.
That's not the only difference between generational groups in Utah and the rest of the nation. Utahns are more likely to be married, have children and to stay at home to care for children than their counterparts across the country. Utah's Millenials are also more likely to say they have no religious affiliation than older generations.
These are among the findings in the first part of a research report from the Utah Foundation, Millennials and Boomers: How Utah's Generations Compare to Each Other and the Nation.
- Nationally, Millennials will overtake Baby Boomers as the largest living generation in 2015; this occurred in Utah before 2000. Accordingly, the proportion of Utah's population who are Millennials is the second highest in the nation.
- While Utah is less diverse than the nation, the state is trending toward larger non-white populations for Gen Xers and Millennials than earlier generations.
- Fewer children are being born to Utah Millennial women between 20 and 24 and more are born to women between 30 and 34 than previous generations
- Utahns of all generations are more likely to be married than their national counterparts.
- Utah's proportion of married, stay-at-home mothers is around 12% higher for Gen Xers and Millennials than their national peers.
- Approximately 30% of Millennial respondents to the Utah Foundation survey identify as religiously unaffiliated, which is comparable to their national peers (36%) and higher than any other generation in Utah.
The other reports in the series will look at the views of these generational cohorts on workplace and financial issues, political and social issues, and their housing needs and preferences. They will be released through the next several weeks in May and June.
