Utah boasts a low corporate tax rate and other benefits for businesses — but what about low-wage workers and the environment for women?But when those or other groups change their lens, the state’s business environment becomes less celebrated — Utah dropped to No. 46 on Oxfam’s 2023 list of theHere’s a look at the data shaping these depictions of our booming Western state.
Utah’s lowest ranking was in business costs, though it has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the country and offersthe nearby town of Washington— nurtured, in part, by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints training members to serve missions around the world — also, another draw for businesses.
“Here’s the thing,” Larsen wrote. “I don’t think minimum wage is a very representative way of looking at the issue of worker pay.”, “there were 866,000 hourly employees in Utah in 2021,” Larsen explained. “In total, 13,000 of those had earnings of minimum wage or below.” For Utahns who do make minimum wage, the state’s housing crisis can be especially harsh. There is no county statewide where working at minimum wage for 40 hours a week can earn enough to afford the cheapest living space, not even a studio, according to research by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.“We’ve cut out a lot of the first-time buyers,” said Dave Anderton, spokesperson for the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. “But even move-up buyers are getting frozen out of this market.