Utah’s population to hit 5.6 million in 2065, report says. How should state leaders plan?

Over the next four decades, Utah’s population is on track to rise from about 3.6 million residents today to more than 5.6 million — an increase of 2 million people, or roughly the size of Idaho’s current population.

That’s according to a new report published Tuesday by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The report is the state’s latest long-term economic and demographic projections, meant to help guide policy decisions for years to come.

“Utah’s demographic and economic future will be marked by significant growth and change,” the report says, attributing “record levels of net in-migration, declining natural change (births minus deaths), an aging population, and continuing urbanization” to the growth.

By the end of 2065, “Utah’s population will be larger, older, an