- One third of Utah voters say affordable housing should be the top issue for lawmakers.
- Double the voters picked housing over other issues across all partisan and age groups.
- Legislature has 47% approval — 67% among Republicans and 20% among Democrats.
The affordability of housing is the No. 1 issue Utah voters want the Legislature to address during the session that begins on Tuesday, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.
Concern over affordable housing united voters across all partisan affiliations and age categories. The share selecting it as their sole priority for lawmakers — 32% — was more than double that of the next-ranking topic.
“What stands out is how sharply housing affordability outpaces every other issue, suggesting it’s shifted from a long-term concern to an immediate, top-of-mind problem for Utahns,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute at the University of Utah.
Over the past five years, Utah home prices have surged to the ninth highest in the nation. The median sales price of a single-family home is $550,000 statewide, and $1 million in quickly growing places like Wasatch County.
However, Utahns are divided over state-led solutions that interfere with local zoning authority, according to the poll. The contrast is clearest between rural and urban residents, and young and retired voters.
While housing far outranks other issues, health care, water management for the Great Salt Lake and tax cuts also emerged as clear priorities that constituents are looking for legislators to address this year.
The poll found that the legislative branch in Utah continues to enjoy a positive approval rating. But feelings toward the Republican-controlled chambers are deeply polarized along lines of partisan identity.
Utahns’ top issues by the numbers
The top three issues voters identified as priorities for this legislative session were affordable housing, health care and water. Depending on partisan affiliation and age, tax cuts also landed in second or third place.
Respondents were only able to select one issue. More than 3-in-10, 32%, singled out housing from the 12 available options. Another 13% picked health care, 11% picked “water/the Great Salt Lake” and 10% picked tax cuts.
Other issues that received a significant share of responses included: preparing for the threat of a recession (9%), homelessness (7%) and public education (5%). Some headline-catching issues received even less.
Legislation on redistricting was the priority for just 2% of voters, as was legislation dealing with artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, higher education and public transportation were prioritized by only 1% of respondents.
One of the noisiest issues from the 2025 legislative session — the ability for public employee unions to engage in collective bargaining — was prioritized by a handful of respondents, representing less than 1% of the sample.
These results were consistent across partisan divides. More than one third of Republicans, Democrats and independents selected affordable housing. The same was true among voters separated by age, 18-34, 35-44, 45-64 and 65+.
Notably, health care also appeared in the top three responses for all political and age groups. However, among Republicans, and voters age 35-44, and 45-64, tax cuts edged out the Great Salt Lake as a top priority.
The poll was conducted by Morning Consult between January 7-12, among a sample of 799 registered Utah voters. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 3%.
Utahns divided over zoning takeover
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has placed solving Utah’s housing crisis at the center of his agenda over the past two years, with the goal of catalyzing the construction of 35,000 starter homes before he leaves office in early 2029.
Cox signed dozens of laws over the past few sessions subsidizing first-time homebuyers, creating tax increment financing options for cities and devoting funds to back low-interest loans for starter home development.
While the state has made some progress, like increasing density around transit stops, it is “not nearly as much” as Cox had hoped, totaling around 8,000 homes in two years, compared to the ideal of 10,000 homes every year.
Feeling a sense of urgency as young Utahns are priced out of the market, Cox has ratcheted up his rhetoric, promising a “more aggressive” approach to increase supply that could include, as a last resort, preempting local zoning policies.
“I don’t think it’s good policy to preempt local municipalities,” Cox told the Deseret News/KSL Editorial Board in December. “But the worst policy is having starter homes at $550,000 — that’s worse than bad preemption.”
Utah voters are similarly conflicted about laws that would standardize zoning policies across municipalities to encourage more affordable homes being built — like has been tried in Florida and Oregon.
Roughly 40% of voters support, and 40% oppose, letting the state override local zoning restrictions, the poll found. Support rose among urban residents and 18-34-year-olds, and fell among suburban residents and those over 65.
“If you go back in history, we used to be able to get things approved very, very quickly,“ said Cox’s housing adviser, Steve Waldrip. ”We’ve gotten away from that ... and part of that is a result of the zoning process that we’ve created.”
Lawmakers will focus this session on repurposing underutilized state lands for homes, supporting infrastructure projects to “unlock development” and consolidating housing resources under the governor, Waldrip said.
Waldrip supports these proposals, from Rep. Calvin Roberts, R-Draper, and is interested in another from Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, that would flip the zoning default to allow city councils to supersede current ordinances to approve homes on one-eighth acre lots.
How popular is the Utah Legislature?
Waldrip said home ownership is “already high on everybody’s list” of priorities for the session. In statements to the Deseret News, legislative leadership reaffirmed their commitment to do all they can to bring down housing costs for Utahns.
“The Utah Senate Majority’s priorities reflect the issues Utahns care about: making life more affordable for families, expanding homeownership opportunities and delivering meaningful tax relief,” Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said.
The Senate will maintain the state’s No. 1 economic outlook with business friendly policies, according to Adams. Pushing a package of tax cuts and deregulation, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said the GOP will deliver results by “always putting Utahns first.”
The Legislature enjoys an overall positive approval rating of 47% to 41%, according to the poll. Approval rises to 67% among Republicans, while falling to 37% among independents and 20% among Democrats. Disapproval varies from 23% of Republicans, to 51% of independents and 71% of Democrats.
“Utahns have been clear about what matters to them, and the House Majority Caucus is listening,” Schultz said. “Our work is guided by the real concerns of families and communities across the state, with a focus on practical, responsible solutions rooted in Utah values.”
The state’s Democratic minority also cited “the economy and affordability,” as their top priority, saying the results of the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll confirm what Democrats “hear every day from Utah families.”
“We are fighting for real solutions that make housing attainable and expand access to health care,” House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said. “Tax relief matters, but not when it comes at the cost of weakening the social safety net Utah families rely on.”
Romero vowed that Democrats “will remain good stewards of Utah’s water resources” and will “work to protect the Great Salt Lake for future generations.” According to Schultz, this will look like a focus on “conservation, conservation, conservation,” for municipalities, agriculture and residents.