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The first African Americans to arrive in Utah were fur trappers in the early 19th century. The second influx consisted of both freedmen who were converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and slaves belonging to white converts. Later, most African American immigrants to Utah would migrate out for labor-related motivations. African Americans have traditionally been composed only a small part of the total population in Utah, with the 2010 census placing the percentage of African Americans at 1.06%. Utah ranks 40th in the United States for total African American population and 43rd in percentage of residents who are African American.[2]
Including partly Black people, Utah has 69,000 Black residents, with 35,000 reporting sole Black ancestry. That means Black people account for one and two percent of Utah's population under those respective categories.[3] Utah's Black population is mainly centered in Salt Lake County, which is about three percent Black; South Salt Lake has the highest percentage of African Americans of any city or town in Utah, with at least 11% of its residents identifying as Black. Ogden has a sizeable Black population as well, relative to Utah's general Black population.
