Even with looming economic uncertainty, things look pretty good in Salt Lake City.
“If you're going to be in any state, be in Utah, and if you're going to be in Utah, be in urban Utah,” University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute Director Natalie Gochnour told the Salt Lake City Council on May 13. “And [the city] is the center of both of those.”
Gochnour presented the economic forecast to the council as the city’s budget discussions for FY26 get underway. As it turns out, the capital city has quite a lot of economic weight to throw around.
According to the institute’s estimates, almost half of Utah’s 1.765 million jobs are in Salt Lake County, with about one in four being in Salt Lake City alone. Gochnour called the statistic a “stunning number.”
“I say it's crazy because we often forget how important it is that we maintain a strong urban center,” she said. “And we've been able to do that, and we must keep doing that.”
Gochnour also pointed to Utah being named the best state in the nation for the third year in a row by U.S. News and World Report. The ranking takes into account everything from crime statistics to infrastructure to education, and Gochnour called Salt Lake City “the urban center that births a lot of this.”
But being the hub of the state’s success can also present challenges. For west side councilor Alejandro Puy, the city may be home to high-quality jobs, but he sees a disconnect. He said many in his community still work multiple jobs to keep their heads above water.
“This seems to be one of the biggest challenges for upward mobility for many members of our own communities here in Utah and Salt Lake is to find those jobs that are life-changing, that are, you know, family-making,” he said.
For Gochnour’s part, she recommended exploring policies that bring together families from different socio-economic statuses to foster greater upward mobility and integration.
“A policy application of that would be in housing vouchers,” she said. “Make sure that the housing vouchers are going to households that are integrating socio-economically and not isolating them.”
For example, the city reformed much of its residential zoning in 2023 to allow multi-family housing — think duplexes and quadplexes — to be built in any residential zone in the city. But the result of those changes could be years away.
On the broader economic front, Gochnour said she’s “in the 50/50 odds camp” on whether there will be a recession as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. With the city currently in budget negotiations for the next fiscal year, that’s not the best news to hear.
For councilor Victoria Petro, how to navigate policy making in the face of mounting economic pressure is top of mind.
“I know every time we put a regulation on, we're terrified it's going to hurt people,” she said. “Every time we take one away, we're terrified it's going to hurt people.”
Gochnour’s advice to the city going forward is to lean in on its partnerships, particularly at the state level.
“I would reaffirm and reinvest in your relationship with the state of Utah,” she advised. “And I say that because both the city and the state need each other, and there's a social contract there that must be productive.”
That could be easier said than done.
Salt Lake City and the state frequently find themselves at odds. In just the last few years, the city and state have butted heads over the inland port, crime and public safety initiatives and councilors have expressed frustration over the process that created special sports districts in the heart of downtown. In March, city Mayor Erin Mendenhall called out the Legislature over what she saw as their willingness to assert control over Salt Lake rising to a “punitive level.”
Their most recent fight has been over the city’s decision to adopt versions of pride, transgender and Juneteenth flags to sidestep a new state law that restricts which flags can fly on government property.
Still, Gochnour said strengthening that relationship would be in everyone’s best interests.
“It's not going to help the state to have a city that is not thriving,” Gochnour said. “You know, this is the front door to our state. So that's what I would do, is find ways to reinvest in that relationship.”
