Letter: Utah good for business. But what about workers?

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah politicians often brag about their Forbes rating as being the most business friendly state. Forbes does have a right to this opinion, but it is just a qualitative opinion, not a quantitative fact.

How well do the workers fare in this "business friendly" state? The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) says that Utah ranks 41st (from the best) in per-capita income. Far below the national average. This is dismal.

We do considerably better in median household income (14th) and in median family income (20th), but this is almost all attributed to our larger families and households. Even with our larger families and households, Utah still doesn't even rank in the top 10 states.

In short, while Utah may be a great place for business, it doesn't do nearly as well for the workers that sustain these businesses.

Rudi Kohler

Heber City