Gov. Cox was elected in 2020 and sworn in on Jan. 4, 2021. Spencer Cox is now serving a 2nd consecutive term; the current term began Jan. 2025. The scored record above covers Utah's outcomes during this continuous service, lagged per category (each category's lag was fixed before scoring).
Governors › Utah
Utah Under Spencer Cox
Republican · Sworn in Jan. 4, 2021 · Now in 2nd term
Utah has trailed the typical state under Gov. Cox — No. 25 of 29 governors with rated records, across 14 categories.
Spencer Cox
Utah · Republican · since Jan. 2021 · 2nd term
Overall · citizen-weighted
No. 25 of 29
−0.38σ · 14 of 20 categories
equal-weight: −0.32σ · weighting hurts
| Category | Latest | Score vs. peers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honesty | — | In human review | |
| Spending discipline | — | Rubric in development | |
| Education scale score | 281.8 ’24 | Insufficient data | |
| Air quality AQI | 45 ’24 | −0.23σ | |
| Water quality % of community systems | 8.0 ’25 | −0.41σ | |
| Unemployment % | 3.6 ’25 | −1.68σ | |
| Health coverage % of adults 18-64 | 10.1 ’24 | +0.48σ | |
| Tax burden % of personal income | 5.7 ’24 | +0.92σ | |
| Energy cost cents/kWh | 12.2 ’24 | −0.55σ | |
| Cost of living index, US=100 | 98.9 ’24 | −2.06σ | |
| Crime deaths per 100,000 | 2.3 ’24 | −1.68σ | |
| Teen births per 1,000 females 15-19 | 8.2 ’24 | +0.17σ | |
| Wellbeing mean days of past 30 | 5 ’24 | +0.96σ | |
| School food quality | — | Rubric in development | |
| School shootings | 1 ’24 | Context · 2/10yr | |
| Obesity % of adults | 31.0 ’24 | −0.53σ* | |
| Early literacy % of 4th graders | 35.5 ’24 | Insufficient data | |
| Gun deaths deaths per 100,000 (age-adjusted) | 13.3 ’24 | −0.52σ | |
| Food-aid access index (higher = easier access) | 0.4 ’23 | −0.90σ* | |
| Jobless-benefit access % of unemployed receiving UI | 21.9 ’24 | +0.38σ |
Data transparency — 100% of state-run reporting delivered this tenureFull reporting
Scores are trends vs. the other 49 states over this governor’s window, in σ; *thin data (under 3 points). Tap ? on any row for what it measures, its chart, and the source. All provisional while the term runs. Methodology v2.1
Unemployment Rate, 2010–2025
Utah against all 49 other states Utah 50-state median Other 49 states Scored window
Annual-average unemployment rate — the longest-running series on the card, charted in full. The shaded band is its scored window: it opens one year after inauguration and tracks through the newest published data. The dashed line is the 50-state median, shown for context; scoring uses the median of the other 49 states. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
The Record
Show the Work
every published number, reproducible| Air quality (EPA AirData) | −0.23σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state +1.1%/yr vs peers 0.0%/yr |
| Water quality (EPA SDWIS/ECHO) | −0.41σ · window 2022–2025 (4 pts) · state +0.3%/yr vs peers −0.1%/yr |
| Unemployment (BLS LAUS) | −1.68σ · window 2022–2025 (4 pts) · state +15.2%/yr vs peers +6.5%/yr |
| Health coverage (CDC BRFSS) | +0.48σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state −2.3%/yr vs peers +2.9%/yr |
| Tax burden (Census STC ÷ BEA personal income) | +0.92σ · window 2021–2024 (4 pts) · state −3.9%/yr vs peers +0.1%/yr |
| Energy cost (EIA) | −0.55σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state +6.2%/yr vs peers +4.0%/yr |
| Cost of living (BEA) | −2.06σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state +2.2%/yr vs peers +0.1%/yr |
| Crime (CDC WONDER) | −1.68σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state +2.3%/yr vs peers −9.2%/yr |
| Teen births (CDC WONDER) | +0.17σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state −4.5%/yr vs peers −4.2%/yr |
| Wellbeing (CDC BRFSS) | +0.96σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state −2.9%/yr vs peers 0.0%/yr |
| Obesity (CDC BRFSS) | −0.53σ · window 2023–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state +2.8%/yr vs peers +0.7%/yr |
| Gun deaths (CDC WONDER) | −0.52σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state −1.5%/yr vs peers −4.6%/yr |
| Food-aid access (USDA FNS) | −0.90σ · window 2022–2023 (2 pts, thin) · state −3.8%/yr vs peers +2.5%/yr |
| Jobless-benefit access (US DOL ETA) | +0.38σ · window 2022–2024 (3 pts) · state +9.9%/yr vs peers +5.6%/yr |
| Overall (mean of domain scores) | −0.38σ · economy −1.43 · health +0.27 · environment −0.32 · public_safety −1.10 · social_services −0.26 · fiscal +0.92 |
| Methodology | v2.1, preregistered — directions and lags fixed before scoring; full dataset at /pwr.json |
Every score is a fitted log-linear trend over that category’s window, minus the median trend of the other 49 states, standardized by the spread across states (σ) and capped at ±2.5. Positive always means “moved better than peers” under the category’s preregistered direction.
Cite this
Utah has trailed the typical state under Gov. Cox — No. 25 of 29 governors with rated records, across 14 categories. — Political Grades, methodology v2.1, data through 2025. Provisional; trend-vs-peers scoring; relative movement, not causation.