Utah is a very inclusive state pertaining to landscape, ranging from the “greatest snow on earth” to hot summers and populated cities to grand plateaus. However, experiencing life and societies outside of our little nutshell puts perspective on things. Here’s a few reasons why you would want to live somewhere else.

Let’s start with reason one: Utah’s culture. We all know Utah to be the heart of Mormonism. There’s very little room for separation of church and state and everything you do here is judged harshly. The people themselves are very much tolerable and I love everyone I meet, but that opinion isn’t usually reciprocated. When meeting Mormons, they are so quick to ask and find out if you are a member as if it is a factor deciding if you will be friends or not. It makes socializing a little more difficult if you aren’t.

Reason two, population. Utah’s demographics primarily consist of whites and Latinos providing large families. As part of our culture, tying back to reason one, members of the church are raised to start families young. Families typically consist of 4 or more children here. Already our schools are packed, roads are jammed, and there’s constantly more housing being built because there’s never enough. Many Californians are relocating to Utah as well due to political effects and the pandemic. Our economy has ranked #1 with the lowest unemployment rates in the nation so more and more are coming in looking for work.

Reason three, cost of living. Due to reason two, population growth, living expenses here are continuously increasing. There’s no 2 bed apartment complex in Utah Valley going for less than $1200/month already. Even small houses in Orem are going for at least half a million dollars on the market. On top of living expenses, national gas prices are already at three and a half dollars so prepare to live your life on a strict budget in Utah.

For just three reasons I hope you have some more insight on our state and can start looking in comparisons to other places as needed.