Robert Gehrke: Utah’s growth doesn’t show any signs of letting up and will factor into every decision we make The challenge is maintaining quality of life when there are a lot more lives. (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Robert Gehrke. | April 28, 2021, 1:00 p.m. Considering it was basically just numbering things, or in this case people, the U.S. Census Bureau’s release of Utah’s new population figures made a lot of noise. The Count from Sesame Street would have approved. The news stories focused on Utah being No. 1, the fastest growing state in the nation — by percentage, at least — over the past decade. Our population grew by 507,761 people, an 18.4% increase from the last Census 10 years ago.