Today, the Utah Foundation released The 2022 Utah Personal Quality of Life Index: Is the Well-Being of Utahns in Decline?
The report focuses on personal quality of life – based on a survey where Utahns rate their well-being on a series of seven factors. In this report, the Utah Foundation: compares 2022 data with the 2018 iteration of the survey; analyzes responses by population group; compares Utahns’ personal quality of life with their community quality of life; and suggests targeted ways that policymakers might improve quality of life for Utahns.
In 2022, the Personal Quality of Life Index stands at 76 out of a possible 100 points. This is a decrease from 82 points in 2018.
Among the findings of the new report:
- Utahns’ personal quality of life declined from an Index score of 82 in 2018 to 76 in 2022.
- All seven factors in the Personal Quality of Life Index decreased from 2018 to 2022.
- Being “secure financially” is far and away the poorest performing measure among the personal quality of life questions. However, it declined the least of the seven factors in the Personal Quality of Life Index.
- Utahns with higher incomes indicated a higher rating on all seven factors. They also show a much higher overall personal quality of life.
- Those with more education indicated a higher rating on six of the seven factors.
Utah Foundation Vice-President Shawn Teigen said that financial concerns are taking a toll. “Given recent inflation, we figured that we’d see the financial factor decline in performance,” Teigen said. “But we were surprised to see all of the other six factors with an even greater decline in performance.”
The 2022 Utah Personal Quality of Life Index is the second release in the Utah Foundation’s 2022 Quality of Life project. The Utah Foundation released The 2022 Utah Community Quality of Life Index in June. Other releases will follow.
The 2022 Utah Personal Quality of Life Index is available on the Utah Foundation website at www.utahfoundation.org. Special thanks to Wellquest Living and the George and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation for providing grant support to make this project possible. Thanks also to Intermountain Healthcare and Lighthouse Research for in-kind support.
