As Utah grew last year, it became older, more diverse and richer, according to newly released data — and that’s been a trend for a decade.

New one-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey show how states changed between 2022 and 2023, looking at demographics across categories from race to employment status and age to income.

The Salt Lake Tribune analyzed the new numbers for all states and ten years of Utah data to compare the Beehive State to others and to itself over the past decade.

Here are three key takeaways from that analysis:

Utah is still the youngest state, but we’re aging

Utah still has the lowest median age at 32.3 years old.

The gap between the next youngest state — including Washington, D.C. — is more than two years. Removing Washington from the data creates a three-year gap to Texas, which has a median age of 35.9.

Utah’s median age has consistently increased in small increments over the past decade, from 30.5 in 2014 to 32.1 in 2022.

One factor is a shrinking population of young children as the state’s fertility rate declines.

While the Beehive State still has the highest percentage of residents younger than five, that number and proportion have shrunk in the last decade. There were 249,809 Utahns younger than five in 2014 — about 8.5% of the population. That was down to 229,881, or about 6.7% of the population, last year.

While the number of young Utahns did bump up slightly last year, they were still a smaller portion of the population.

Utah’s growing senior population — from 294,979 in 2014 to 415,749 last year — also is a factor.

An analysis from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute notes that the increase in the senior population as a share of all Utah residents — from 11.9% to 12.2% — was statistically significant.

The state still has the lowest percentage of the population aged 65 and older at 12.2%. Washington, D.C. and Texas again trail Utah at 13.1% and 13.8%, respectively.

But that proportion grew over the past decade by more than two percentage points.

Utah is among the bottom half of states for diversity

Utah had the 18th-highest percentage of residents identifying as non-Hispanic and white in 2022 and 2023.

That demographic dropped between 2022 and 2023, and the Gardner Policy Institute’s analysis notes that the decrease was statistically significant, meaning it was greater than what might be expected to happen by chance alone.

Though white, non-Hispanic people have been a smaller portion of the population each year, the change from 2022 to 2023 was the first time the actual number of residents with that identity dropped in at least a decade

The state’s growing minority population is spurred by Utahns who identify as Hispanic or Latino. They made up about 16% of the population in 2023, a jump from 13.5% in 2014.

Utah has generally become more diverse with gains across all non-white populations in 10 years:

• 50% increase in the population of people identifying as Black

• 48.3% increase in the population of people identifying as Native American

• 46.4% increase in the population of people identifying as Asian

• 45% increase in the population of people identifying as Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander

Median household income climbs, and so did poverty

Utah’s median household income went up, but inflation negated much of the gain.

The state’s median household income in 2022 was $89,168. That’s the equivalent of $92,846 in 2023 inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the Gardner Policy Institute.

So when the median household income jumped to $93,421 last year, it was less than a 1% increase when accounting for inflation. Though the gain wasn’t statistically significant, it did bump Utah from having the 10th-highest median household income to the ninth-highest.

While the middle point of household income increased from 2022 to 2023, so did the number of Utahns whose income fell below the poverty level.

Overall, the poverty rate increased from 8.2% to 9% — a change that the Gardner Policy Institute notes is statistically significant.

It particularly increased for families with children — though not married couples with children — and single mothers,

Families with unmarried parents and single mothers particularly saw an increase in poverty, according to data the Gardner Policy Institute included in its analysis.

Despite that, Utah’s income inequality remains low, based on the state’s Gini Index score — a measure of income inequality. A score of 0 is perfect equality in income distribution, and a 1.0 is total inequality.

At 0.4225, Utah’s score is the lowest in the nation — meaning the most equal income distribution of any state — and 12.5% lower than the national rate. The state’s score also dropped between 2022 and 2023, indicating more income equality.

Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.