Utah's San Juan County is the "youngest" county in the nation, and 15 other Utah counties are also ranked among the country's top 50 most child-oriented.
Following San Juan County in the national rankings are Emery, Duchesne and Millard. Along the Wasatch Front, Box Elder and Davis counties were ranked among the top 10, Utah County among the top 25. The least child-oriented places are in Virginia and retiree-haven Florida.Rankings of the top 50 counties with more than 10,000 residents showed that almost one-third of residents are under age 18, according to an analysis of 1990 Census data by American Demographics magazine.
Utah's other 14 counties would have likely scored high, but their populations weren't large enough to be included. As a whole, 36.4 percent of the state's population is under age 18.
The nation's top ranking came as a surprise to education and social service officials who work with San Juan County's children and youths.
Mel Walker, assistant superintendent over elementary schools in San Juan District, said the young population has been larger in past years. He said the schools are not necessarily concerned with classroom sizes but to providing services to a far-flung and diverse population.
"Our biggest challenge is the second language (Navajo)," Walker said, noting that almost 49 percent of the district's students are Navajos. The county is also highly dependent on federal in-lieu-of-tax payments.
Kenneth Hickman, a state human services worker in Blanding, said while the county has its share of young people, he believes Utah's urban areas have far bigger challenges keeping teens away from drugs and run-ins with the law.
"The area is conducive to families. The culture of both Native Americans an the LDS Church fosters this aspect," he said.
The fact that both of those cultures hold sway in San Juan County probably explain its high child-adult ratio. Data show that large percentage of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or a significant minority population, usually American Indians, was enough to make to the list.When the data is compared with a religious survey conducted in 1980 by the Glenmary Research Center, a Catholic agency in Atlanta, it shows that 24 of the top 50 youngest counties have large LDS populations. Those counties, in Utah, southern Idaho, southern Wyoming and northern Arizona, show LDS residents make up more than 50 percent of the population.
School officials in Davis County, ranked the ninth youngest in the nation, were shocked at their high ranking.
"That's astounding," said Ray Briscoe, a Davis school board member. "I don't see it getting any better. We're to the point of needing legislative help. I think a major mistake would be to force high schools into year-round education. We're going to have to start building schools not from bonding, but from the state as a whole," he said.
District officials, already building a new high school and implemented year-round programs at some elementary schools, still con-clude there may not be enough space to house all of the students coming from homes in Davis County's expanding neighborhoods.
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(Additional information)
Child-oriented counties
Fifteen of the top 50 most child-oriented counties in the nation are in Utah. Other top counties have large minority populations or concentrations of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Rank* County State Percent under 18
1 San Juan Utah 43.3
2 Emery Utah 43.0
3 Duchesne Utah 43.0
4 Millard Utah 42.9
5 Apache Arizona 41.7
6 Uintah Utah 41.4
7 Box Elder Utah 40.6
8 Jefferson Idaho 40.4
9 Davis Utah 40.2
10 Uintah Wyoming 39.8
*Note: Numbers are based on those under age 18 in counties with 10,000 or more population.
Source: American Demographics magazine, Deseret News analysis of 1990 Census date.