SALT LAKE CITY — States and the federal government share a vital economic relationship. This data summary, the fifth in a series on state and federal economic linkages from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, presents the Utah-federal government nexus for defense in Utah.
“The defense civilian workforce in Utah shrank rapidly in the 1990s following the end of the Cold War but has since rebounded by several thousand jobs,” said John Downen, senior research fellow at the Gardner Institute. “The number of military personnel has followed a similar, smoother path. These trends illustrate the influence of international conflicts and changing national political priorities on the local economy.”
Key findings from the summary include the following:
Size and Composition - Approximately 35,000 federal defense employees work in Utah, consisting of over 19,000 civilian and almost 16,000 military personnel. Defense civilians and military make up 62% of the state’s federal workforce. In addition, private defense contractors employ roughly 20,200 employees working on federal contracts.
Employers - Most defense civilians in Utah work for the Department of Defense (DOD), while the Air Force has the largest active-duty military presence, and the Army has the largest National Guard and Reserves presence. The remaining defense civilian employees work for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). DOD and VA contracts fund jobs at private defense contractors like Northrop Grumman and L3Harris Technologies.
Economic Impact - The military and defense industry supports about 7.2% of Utah’s employment and 6.9% of Utah’s personal income through direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts. Defense-related activity in Utah generates net fiscal impacts of $304.9 million for the state government (FY 2023 estimate).
Rank Among States - Compared with sectors of a similar size in Utah, defense ranks above the information sector but below the wholesale trade sector. Utah’s public-sector federal defense jobs as a share of total employment rank 24th among U.S. states and the District of Columbia at 2.0%.
Defense Spending - The defense presence is also felt through federal government spending in Utah. The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs obligated $6.0 billion in prime contracts and $142.5 million in grants for performance in Utah in federal FY 2024. The nearly $6.2 billion total equals 2.1% of the state’s GDP, ranking Utah 23rd for total dollars and 15th for share of GDP.
Location - Federal defense employees are concentrated in northern Utah, from Tooele and Utah counties north to Weber and Cache. However, more than half of Utah’s counties have federal defense employment. As a share of each county’s overall employment, federal defense jobs are highest in Davis County (11.4%) and Tooele County (6.1%), while 13 counties have no defense employment as of 2024. An estimated 98.9% of Hill Air Force Base’s civilian jobs and 85.3% of its military jobs are in Davis County, with the remainder in Weber County.