Mormons Are No Longer a Majority in Utah: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for the Sociology of Religion

Abstract

An empirical examination of the demographic shift in Utah, where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints no longer constitute a majority of the state's population. The paper explores the drivers of this transition (in-migration, declining birth rates, religious disaffiliation) and what it implies for the sociological study of Latter-day Saints and religion in the American West.

Findings for Latter-day Saints

• Latter-day Saints no longer constitute a majority of Utah's population.
• Primary drivers: in-migration of non-LDS residents, declining LDS birth rates, and religious disaffiliation.
• Demographic shift carries implications for the sociology of religion in the American West.

Limitations in methodology

Working paper rather than final peer-reviewed publication at time of indexing; relies on multiple data sources of varying methodologies.

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• 2012

Cite this study

Cragun, R. T., Phillips, R. (2024). Mormons Are No Longer a Majority in Utah: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for the Sociology of Religion. Sociology of Religion (working paper).

Ryan T. Cragun, et al.. "Mormons Are No Longer a Majority in Utah: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for the Sociology of Religion." Sociology of Religion (working paper), 2024..

@article{mormons_no_longer_majority_utah,
  title = {Mormons Are No Longer a Majority in Utah: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for the Sociology of Religion},
  author = {Ryan T. Cragun and Rick Phillips},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {Sociology of Religion (working paper)},
}