Box Elder County

Key demographics – Box Elder County, Utah (latest Census Bureau data)

• Population size: ~60,200 (2023 estimate)
• Age:
  • Median age: ~32
  • Under 18: ~32%
  • 65 and over: ~13%
• Gender:
  • Female: ~49%
  • Male: ~51%
• Race/ethnicity (share of total population):
  • White alone: ~90%
  • Black or African American alone: ~0.5%
  • American Indian/Alaska Native alone: ~1%
  • Asian alone: ~0.8%
  • Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander alone: ~0.3%
  • Two or more races: ~7%
  • Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~12–13%
  • White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: ~82%
• Household data:
  • Households: ~19,500
  • Average household size: ~3.2
  • Family households: ~75–77% of households
  • Owner-occupied housing unit rate: ~80%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Population Estimates Program, 2023; American Community Survey 2018–2022 5-year).

Box Elder County, UT email usage (estimates):

• Users: 42,000–50,000 residents use email regularly. Basis: county population ~60,000; applying national adoption rates to local age mix.
• Age distribution of users:
  • 13–17: ~3,000–3,500 (85–95% adoption)
  • 18–29: ~9,000–10,000 (≈99%)
  • 30–49: ~13,000–15,000 (97–99%)
  • 50–64: ~9,000–11,000 (94–97%)
  • 65+: ~7,000–9,000 (85–90%)
• Gender split: Near parity (roughly 49–51% each); no meaningful difference in usage rates.
• Digital access trends:
  • Household broadband subscription roughly 85–90%; device access (computer/smartphone) ~94–96%.
  • Growing smartphone-only access (about 10–15% of households), so much email is mobile-first.
  • Adoption among older adults continues to rise slowly; overall email usage is stable and near-saturation for working-age adults.
• Local density/connectivity facts:
  • Low-density, largely rural county with population concentrated in Brigham City, Tremonton, and the I‑15/I‑84 corridor.
  • Wired broadband is common in town centers; fixed wireless and satellite serve many outlying areas, where speeds and reliability can vary.

Notes: Estimates synthesized from ACS broadband/computer-access data and Pew U.S. email adoption rates applied to local population.

Below is a concise, county-focused view of mobile phone usage in Box Elder County, Utah, with estimates, demographics, and infrastructure notes. Emphasis is on how local patterns differ from statewide trends.

Quick profile and user estimates

• Population baseline: about 60,000 residents; roughly 45,000 adults. Household size is higher than the national average, similar to much of Utah.
• Smartphone users (estimate):
  • Adults: 85–88% adoption in Box Elder vs ~90–92% statewide. That implies about 38,000–40,000 adult smartphone users.
  • Teens (13–17): roughly 5,000 teens; 90–95% adoption → ~4,500–4,800 users.
  • Combined smartphone users: approximately 42,500–45,000 countywide.
• Wireless-only households (no landline): Utah is among the highest in the U.S.; Box Elder likely slightly below the state rate due to older and more rural populations. Expect roughly mid- to high-60s percent locally vs low- to mid-70s percent statewide.

Demographic drivers of usage

• Age: Box Elder skews a bit older than the state overall. Seniors (65+) are a larger share and have lower smartphone adoption (roughly 70–80% locally vs ~80–85% statewide), which pulls countywide adoption down.
• Income and education: Median household income and bachelor’s attainment trail state averages. This correlates with:
  • Slightly higher sensitivity to plan price and data caps.
  • Modestly higher reliance on Android and prepaid plans than the Wasatch Front (directionally consistent with national rural patterns).
• Household composition: Larger family households mean more multi-line family plans and in-home Wi‑Fi offload where broadband is available.
• Race/ethnicity: Hispanic share is a bit lower than the state but growing (around low-teens percent). Hispanic residents typically have high smartphone adoption but may exhibit higher prepaid usage where credit checks or affordability are barriers.

Usage patterns that differ from Utah overall

• Adoption and device mix: Overall smartphone adoption is a few points lower than the state average; device mix skews slightly more Android than iOS compared with urban Utah.
• Internet reliance: Smartphone-only internet reliance is a touch higher outside the fiber/cable footprints, especially among lower-income and renter households in smaller towns; inside Brigham City (with robust fiber), reliance shifts to Wi‑Fi offload.
• Mobility corridors: Usage concentrates along I‑15/I‑84, US‑89, and commuter paths to Weber and Cache counties; speeds and reliability are strongest on these corridors and inside population centers, but drop off quickly in the west desert and mountain areas.
• Seasonal and destination-driven spikes: Events and tourism around Golden Spike, Promontory, and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge create short-term load spikes uncommon in most urban counties.
• Business/industry: Agriculture and light manufacturing (e.g., Tremonton area) drive higher use of messaging, push-to-talk, and some machine-to-machine/IoT connectivity; this profile diverges from the app-heavy, video-centric usage mix along the Wasatch Front.

Digital infrastructure snapshot

• Coverage and technology:
  • 5G mid-band is established in and around Brigham City, Tremonton, and along I‑15/I‑84; it thins west of the corridor. Many remote tracts remain LTE-only with notable dead zones in the west desert, around Promontory, and along lesser-traveled county roads.
  • Carriers show the usual rural pattern: strong highway/town coverage, sparser site density elsewhere. T‑Mobile often has the broadest mid-band 5G footprint in towns; Verizon and AT&T offer strong LTE coverage and selective 5G mid-band in population centers. Actual best carrier varies by micro‑location.
• Backhaul and fiber:
  • Brigham City is a UTOPIA Fiber city, yielding abundant fixed broadband and strong Wi‑Fi offload—distinct from many rural counties.
  • Fiber backhaul tracks UDOT corridors; microwave backhaul supports more remote macro sites, which can bottleneck peak mobile speeds off-corridor.
• Fixed wireless as a complement:
  • 5G Home Internet (T‑Mobile/Verizon) is available in core towns; multiple WISPs and regional providers serve outlying areas. This raises in-home Wi‑Fi offload where cable/DSL are weak, helping mobile plan management but not eliminating rural coverage gaps.
• Public safety and resilience:
  • FirstNet (AT&T) coverage focuses on highways and towns; mutual-aid roaming helps during incidents, but terrain-driven shadows persist in remote areas.

Performance and experience vs state

• Speeds and consistency: Median mobile speeds in Box Elder trail the Utah state median because statewide figures are buoyed by dense urban 5G along the Wasatch Front. Expect good to excellent performance in Brigham City/Tremonton and along interstates, and meaningfully lower speeds or reliability in sparsely populated tracts.
• Indoor experience: Newer construction in town centers and metal agricultural buildings can degrade indoor signal, making Wi‑Fi calling more important. This is less of an issue in urban Utah where site density and small cells are higher.
• Roaming/edge cases: Northern and western fringes near the Idaho border and Great Salt Lake shoreline show more frequent network handoffs and coverage variability than typical urban counties.

What this means for planners and providers

• Targeted fill-in sites and mid-band upgrades west of the I‑15/I‑84 corridor will yield outsized gains.
• Maintaining robust fiber backhaul to rural towers is as critical as adding radios.
• Affordability and prepaid-friendly offerings matter more here than along the Wasatch Front; bilingual support continues to grow in importance.
• Leveraging Brigham City’s fiber footprint for dense small-cell or neutral-host solutions can lift downtown and venue performance without heavy macro buildout.

Notes on methodology and uncertainty

• Figures above synthesize recent national/state adoption research, Utah demographic patterns, and known infrastructure footprints. Where county-specific measurements are limited, ranges are provided and directional differences from Utah statewide trends are emphasized. For decisions that depend on precise counts or coverage, validate with the latest ACS, FCC/Broadband Map, carrier 5G maps, and drive-test or crowdsourced speed data.

Box Elder County, Utah — social media snapshot (short, data-informed estimates)

Data notes: There’s no official, public platform-by-platform dataset at the county level. Figures below triangulate 2020–2024 Pew Research Center U.S. platform adoption, Utah’s younger age profile, rural-county behavior, and ACS population estimates. Treat as directional ranges.

Population and users

• Population: ~61,000
• Residents 13+ (addressable social media audience): ~49,000
• Active social media users: ~38,000–44,000 (≈78–90% of 13+)

Age mix and usage

• 13–17: 7% of pop (4.3k); ~90–97% use social (heavy Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube)
• 18–29: 17% (10.4k); ~92–98% use (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube; Snapchat still high)
• 30–44: 23% (14k); ~85–92% use (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube; Reels rising)
• 45–64: 21% (12.8k); ~72–82% use (Facebook, YouTube; some Pinterest)
• 65+: 12% (7.3k); ~50–60% use (Facebook and YouTube dominate)

Gender breakdown (of active users; approximate)

• Female: ~51–54%; Male: ~46–49%
• Skews:
  • Women higher on Facebook (+5–8 pts), Instagram (+4–6), Pinterest (women ≈3:1 over men)
  • Men higher on YouTube (+8–12), Reddit (men ≈2:1), X/Twitter (+4–6)

Most-used platforms (share of residents 13+; Box Elder est.)

• YouTube: 82–88%
• Facebook: 62–70% (very strong in rural communities)
• Instagram: 38–46%
• TikTok: 28–36% (peaks under 35)
• Snapchat: 26–34% (dominant among teens/20s)
• Pinterest: 28–34% (women 25–54)
• X/Twitter: 18–24% (news/sports niche)
• Reddit: 14–20% (younger men, hobbyist and tech)
• LinkedIn: 12–17% (lower than urban Utah)
• Nextdoor: 4–8% (Facebook Groups cover most neighborhood use)

Behavioral trends to know

• Facebook is the community hub: school and youth sports, church/community events, local buy/sell/trade and Marketplace, weather/road/wildfire/snow updates, county fair/rodeo. Groups drive reach more than Pages.
• Video first: Short, vertical video (Reels/TikTok/Shorts) outperforms static posts. Practical/DIY, farm and equipment maintenance, outdoor, recipes, and local highlights perform well.
• Timing: Peaks before work/school (7–8am), lunch (12–1pm), and evenings (8–10pm). Weekend mornings are strong for events and Marketplace.
• Tone and norms: Family-friendly, community-forward content wins. Overly edgy political content gets muted outside of dedicated groups.
• Messaging: Many interactions move to DMs (Messenger/Snapchat) for logistics and local transactions.
• Commerce: Heavy Facebook Marketplace usage; local services (auto, ag supplies, HVAC/roofing, home repair) do well with geo-targeting around Brigham City, Tremonton, Garland, Perry.
• Seasonality: Spikes around planting/harvest, first snows, school calendars, county fair/rodeo, hunting seasons, and highway/weather disruptions.
• News flow: Local info often spreads via Facebook Groups faster than official sites; YouTube used for how-tos and long-form local coverage.