Utah: Lao community profile

Live data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, with community indicators across population, income, education, language, health, and housing.

Lao population (state)

4,227

ACS 2022 B04006

State population

3,283,809

All residents

Counties with Lao residents

ACS B04006

National rank

Featured

Community partner state

Community at a glance

ACS 5-year estimates (2022). Where Lao-specific data is unavailable, Asian-alone is used as a proxy and labeled accordingly.

Asian median household income

$86,191

State median: $86,833

Bachelor's or higher (Asian)

23.4%

State college rate: 34.3%

Less than HS (Asian)

45.8%

Asian-alone proxy

Asian poverty rate

11.6%

State: 8.5%

Homeownership (Asian)

61.9%

Renters: 38.1%

Linguistic isolation (API speakers)

4.6%

Speak English less than 'very well'

Top counties by Lao population

Live from Census ACS B04006. Counties with at least one Lao-ancestry respondent.

County	Lao population	% of ancestry reported
Utah County	1,794	0.27%
Salt Lake County	880	0.07%
Davis County	493	0.14%
Washington County	304	0.17%
Cache County	194	0.14%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates (2022), Table B04006.

Community context

Who, where, and how — in Utah.

Community-partnered narrative. Updates as partnerships evolve.

Utah's Lao community grew rapidly along the Wasatch Front through secondary migration in the 1990s and 2000s, drawn by employment and lower cost of living. West Valley City and the broader Salt Lake corridor host the densest concentration.

Key community hubs

West Valley CitySalt Lake CityOgdenProvo

Partner organizations

Asian Association of Utah
Wat Lao Buddhist temples (multiple)
(Community partnerships actively forming — contact us to collaborate.)

Research focus areas

Workforce transitions & wage gaps
Youth identity formation in religiously homogeneous regions
Cross-state secondary migration patterns

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