Salt Lake City: Strong GDP growth and in-migration expected

Salt Lake City’s low costs and outdoor amenities have attracted in-migration, spurring robust population over the last few years. The metro’s net job growth of 3.7% from Q1 2020 to Q2 2022 ranks 7th of the 50 largest metros. We forecast employment growth of 1.3% between 2022 and 2026, the same as the US rate. GDP grew 8% from Q4 2019 (peak) to Q2 2022, which ranks 6th highest of 50. We forecast strong GDP growth of 2.4% annually between 2022 and 2026, above the national average of 2.2%.

What you will learn:

• Salt Lake City was the first of the 50 metros to recover from the pandemic. It drew in-migration which helped its consumer facing sectors such as retail trade that added 6,900 jobs (+9%) from Q1 2020 to Q2 2022 – more than any other sector – as well as construction that added 5,100 jobs (+11%).
• Salt Lake City’s large finance and insurance sector – including Zions Bancorp headquartered in the metro – contributed 20% of total GDP growth since Q4 2019. Manufacturing and tech-related sectors also contributed significantly to GDP growth.
• With robust net in-migration, Salt Lake City’s population grew 1% from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022 with in-migration accounting for most of the increase.