Iron County's Increasing Unaffordability for Future Generations
This is a quiet conversation in the room that nobody likes talking about - but probably comes up in any Iron County family's home with teenagers or young adults. At least once or twice a year.
I know it does in mine. Especially with a college student at Southern Utah University, one set to graduate high school next May, and two more rearing up from 9th and 8th grade.
From all the essentials down to the last detail: housing costs and groceries, to taxes and the basic comforts.
I can't say it's just a Utah problem. It's definitely an American one. But did you ever get a feeling that the statistics here don't match the reality? Let's take a look at these first.
What the Figures Say
From looking across the web (not AI-sourced), it's become clear that there's a massive disparity between what's advertised, what's published from government sources, and how we feel and perceive the cost of living.
We all know realty is an abundant trade in Utah. You can't scroll social media without finding an ad from a realtor. There is no harm in that - some of my own family work in Utah real estate. But when you see things like the below, how true is it?
How much money do you need to live comfortably in Utah?
According to LivingCost.org and Numbeo, a family of four in Utah now needs approximately $83,000–$86,000 per year to live comfortably in 2025, depending on lifestyle and location. In Salt Lake City, for example, the average monthly cost for a family of four (including rent) is about $4,640, while for an individual it’s around $2,043. (daybreakutah.com)
We're going to list out costs for a typical family of four. Citations come from various sources across independent research agencies, the EPI (Economic Policy Institute), and the BLS (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
- The average 3-bedroom apartment in Utah: $2,550/month (that's not even a bedroom for each kid)
- The average of utilities (elec., water, gas, trash, sewer): $380/month
- Food (groceries + occasional eating out): $610
- Transportation (car payments, fuel, insurance, maintenance, public transit): $819
- Health Care (copays, out of pocket costs, prescriptions, etc.): $431
- Cell Phone / Internet: $160
- Entertainment & Recreation (streaming, movies, hobbies, outings): $300
- Childcare & Education (Daycare, school fees, extracurriculars): $500
- Clothing & Personal Care (clothing, haircuts, toiletries, etc.): $170
- Household supplies (Cleaning supplies, small household items): $100
- Misc. (Gifts, donations, or other unclassified expenses): $100
So, where do we land? $6,120. That's a huge jump from $4,640.
Going by a general rule of thumb that a paycheck is less ~28% due to taxes and deductions, a family of four would need gross pay of $8,500 a month, or $102,000 a year. That would give them the $6,120 take-home pay needed to survive month to month.
In terms of non-salary hourly wages, factoring in 2,080 full-time working hours a year, that's $49.04/hour, or $24.52 for both working parents. And that's meeting the minimum.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any hourly employers here in Iron County that have a starting wage for an everyday adult of $24.52 an hour. Let alone $49.04.
Point being – Utah is slowly turning into a state of disparity between white collar and blue collar work, and the scale tips toward the former. Even the most modest estimate (like the earlier referenced quote) is off by about 16-20% from federal government sources on an average family of four's expenses.
So how does this translate to our kids?
Let's divvy all of the above down to the reality of a single young adult, 18-20 years old, and trying to make it on their own:
- The average one-bedroom apartment: $1,100
- Utilities: $195
- Food: $278
- Transportation: $440
- Health Care: $260
- Cell Phone / Internet: $110
- Entertainment & Recreation: $150
- Clothing & Personal care: $70
- Miscellaneous: $50
$2,653.40, at minimum and with no savings. That means, at gross, you would need $3,684.72 following the 28% formula (2653/0.72), or $44,216.64 a year (or a $21.26/hourly wage). It's not impossible. But it's also not easily doable – especially if you're pursuing higher education and have to hold down a full-time job (yes, a 40-hour workweek, kids).
Generational Gaps on Work & Life
Today's 18-20 year old young adults have the lowest reported desire to work a standard 40-hour, 5-day workweek compared to older cohorts (LifeHackMethod), and younger workers increasingly value flexibility. They're less interested in "traditional" workweeks - with many citing burnout and desiring more adaptable schedules.
Factor that with a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that the labor force participation rate for those ages 16-24 sat at 59.5%, and you've got a young population that simply can't afford $2,653.40 a month - and with no desire to.
More and more are realizing they need roommates, flexible work opportunities, and supportive families to make it on their own in Utah.
Staying here becomes a bleak option for most.
And what doesn't help?
Net in-migration, rapid building permits provisioned, out-of-state developers buying land and building sprawling developments, and this notion that Utah should continue to fill its coffers faster than its economy can keep up with.
Oh, and the flood of unrealistic statistics and numbers pulled by developers, realtors, and mortgage brokers (which is basically the precursor to all the aforementioned).
What Future Are We Really Building?
If growth is supposed to mean opportunity, then Iron County should be seeing more doors open for our kids - not fewer. Yet, the reality is that too many young adults are priced out before they even begin. Building permits and university expansion may look like progress on paper, but unless they translate into affordable living, sustainable wages, and a future where a 20-year-old can picture raising a family here, then they’re nothing more than short-term wins with long-term costs.
The conversation we avoid at our tables - about whether our children can afford to stay in Iron County - deserves to be at the center of public debate. Because if housing, wages, and cost of living continue to drift out of reach, the future we’re building isn’t for the next generation at all. It’s for someone else’s. And that’s the real affordability crisis.
So What Can We Do?
If Iron County is going to remain a place where families can plant roots and future generations can thrive, we need to start demanding balance in how growth is managed. Growth isn’t the enemy. Unchecked, one-sided growth is.
That means insisting on greater transparency in how building permits are issued, and asking whether new developments actually meet the needs of working families instead of just catering to investors and out-of-state students. It means encouraging our city and county leaders to tie university expansion and developer incentives to affordable housing commitments, not just high-rent apartments. Just look at how many brand new townhouse developments are rent-only, mere weeks after hitting the market.
It also means looking inward: supporting local businesses that pay fair wages, showing up at city council meetings when zoning changes are proposed, and having the tough conversations about what kind of community we want to leave for our kids. Wasteful spending in an increasingly unaffordable state is not what we need right now; whether it's by the county or the schools. Let's not forget the local permit office can't even keep its own affairs in order over seven years.
At the end of the day, affordability is more than a statistic. It’s whether an 18-year-old Iron County graduate can picture a future here without leaving to chase wages somewhere else. If we don’t act now, the “unaffordable Iron County” conversation won’t just be quiet chatter around kitchen tables: it will become our new reality.