State bird
California gull
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeSalt Lake City ·
U.S. States / West · Card 044
Utah
The Beehive State
Arches National Park preserves natural sandstone arches, rock fins and pinnacles.
Utah and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Utah.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Salt Lake City
- Postal abbreviation
- UT
- Population
- 3,538,904July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 219,882 km²84,897 square miles · land and water
- Statehood
- January 4, 1896State number 45
- Region
- West
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
Utah, This Is the Place
Sources: Designation & background
State vegetable
Spanish sweet onion
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming.
02
Landscape & places
Arches National Park preserves natural sandstone arches, rock fins and pinnacles. Weathering and erosion gradually change the rock, so the arches are part of an evolving landscape rather than permanent structures.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 212,818 km² of land and 7,064 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
Blue, white and red areas form a mountain pattern around a gold-edged blue hexagon containing a beehive and star.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Arches
How the landscape works
Arches are openings formed within rock through weathering and erosion. Fins and pinnacles show other stages and forms in the same changing sandstone landscape. The features are not permanent monuments outside geological processes. A photograph captures one stage of a landscape that continues to change, even when changes are slow on a human time scale.
History
Why Utah waited decades for statehood
Utah Territory was established in 1850, but repeated statehood proposals failed. Federal officials objected to plural marriage among some Latter-day Saints and to the close connection between church leadership and territorial politics. Congress passed laws aimed at ending polygamy and reducing that political control.
The church’s 1890 manifesto changed its official position on plural marriage. Utah also reorganized political life around national parties. Its proposed state constitution prohibited polygamy, and Congress accepted the path to admission. Utah became a state on January 4, 1896. The delay was tied to disputes over religion, marriage and government, not simply to population growth.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
Utah submitted repeated statehood proposals over decades. Conflict over plural marriage was a major obstacle in its relationship with the federal government. Changes in that relationship and the conditions of admission preceded statehood in 1896. Population growth alone does not explain why one territory is admitted at a particular time.
Key dates
-
Mexican cession
-
Utah Territory organized
-
Statehood · State number 45
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Ute Indian Tribe’s own resources provide a living community perspective from Utah. The statehood debate over plural marriage is one strand of the region’s political history, not a complete account of its peoples.
Continue with Ute Indian Tribe. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Utah and Arizona
| Measure | Utah | Arizona |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 3,538,904 | 7,623,818 |
| Land area (km²) | 212,818 | 294,207 |
| People per km² of land | 16.6 | 25.9 |
Arizona has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Arizona.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, real estate and rental and leasing was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included professional and business services, government and government enterprises, and manufacturing.
Total economic output was $316.0 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 14.0%
- Professional and business services: 11.7%
- Government and government enterprises: 10.1%
- Manufacturing: 9.4%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people3.542025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3,283,970 |
| 2021 | 3,339,874 |
| 2022 | 3,393,928 |
| 2023 | 3,449,259 |
| 2024 | 3,502,983 |
| 2025 | 3,538,904 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars240.792025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 133,739.1 |
| 2011 | 138,301.1 |
| 2012 | 140,622.5 |
| 2013 | 145,026.9 |
| 2014 | 150,076.3 |
| 2015 | 155,431.5 |
| 2016 | 162,528.2 |
| 2017 | 172,075.0 |
| 2018 | 182,106.0 |
| 2019 | 192,760.6 |
| 2020 | 195,323.2 |
| 2021 | 211,289.5 |
| 2022 | 217,848.8 |
| 2023 | 226,322.1 |
| 2024 | 234,300.6 |
| 2025 | 240,786.9 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Utah’s population increased by about 7.8% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 62024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 42020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Utah
Show a hint
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Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.