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PHOM Indicator Profile Report of Utah Population Characteristics: Poverty, All Persons

Why Is This Important?

Poverty takes into account both income and family size, and has both immediate and long-lasting effects on health. Income provides an assessment of the financial resources available to individual persons or families for basic necessities (e.g., food, clothing, and health care) to maintain or improve their well-being. Persons living in poverty are worse off than persons in more affluent households for many of the indicators tracked by the Utah Department of Health.

Percentage of Persons Living in Poverty, Utah and U.S., 1980-2021

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confidence limits
The data for this graph come from the Current Population Survey (CPS) for years 1980-2007, from the American Community Survey (ACS) for years 2008-2016 and from Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) for years 2017-2020.

Data Sources

  • U.S. Current Population Survey
  • American Community Survey

Data Notes

Both the ACS and CPS data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value.

Risk Factors

Being in poor mental or physical health can influence an individual's ability to be employed. People with little education are less likely to earn a living wage.

How Are We Doing?

According to the American Community Survey (ACS), approximately 8.6% of Utah residents, or 281,673 Utahns, were living in poverty in 2021. This includes 76,102 children aged 17 and under.

What Is Being Done?

Health care "safety net" programs, such as Medicaid, CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Plan), and the Primary Care Network (PCN) provide some relief to those who are eligible. Utah's community health centers also fill a critical niche in providing high-quality health care services to Utahns of any income level. Programs such as Head Start and those that provide assistance linking people with jobs aim to reduce poverty by increasing social functioning and self-sufficiency. Other programs, such as minimum wage requirements, food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and government subsidized health insurance and child care, provide assistance to families needing additional support.

Healthy People Objective: Proportion of persons living in poverty

U.S. Target: Not applicable; this measure is being tracked for informational purposes.

Date Indicator Content Last Updated: 01/12/2023


Other Views

The information provided above is from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services IBIS-PH web site (http://ibis.health.state.gov). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: " Retrieved Thu, 28 March 2024 14:14:47 from Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health Web site: http://ibis.health.state.gov ".

Content updated: Mon, 6 Feb 2023 14:45:06 MST