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Keywords

Poverty, Religious adherence, Utah, Idaho, LDS

Abstract

Fourth Place Becoming BYU - BYU 150 category, Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference 2026

Previous research has shown variable correlations between religious adherence and socioeconomic standing at the family and individual scales. Utah and Idaho are predominantly LDS—a faith which emphasizes and enables education and self-sufficiency through educational and material resources made available to the membership. We assessed the correlation between poverty rates and religious adherence rates at the county-level and compared national trends to those present in Utah and Idaho. We found a weak positive correlation between poverty and religious adherence rates nationally, but a moderate negative correlation in Utah and Idaho. Though these data do not establish a causative relationship; they suggest an interesting avenue for future study assessing the factors that may result in reduced poverty rates at the community level.

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2026-04-09

College

Life Sciences

Department

Biology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Junior

Course

Honors 226

Community religious adherence is a poor predictor of poverty rates– except in Utah and Idaho

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