SALT LAKE CITY – Cyber-crime is rising nationwide, but Utah appears well poised to combat that financial threat in the future.
In a new study revealing the best and worst states for cyber-security job opportunities, Utah was ranked at number 20 currently, but is projected to lead the nation in cyber-security job growth in the next decade.
Industry experts says cybercrime losses in the United States surpassed $20 billion in 2025, yet the professionals responsible for defending the country’s networks are distributed unevenly throughout the nation.
That cyber-security workforce gap is not a single national problem, they emphasize, but rather a collection of distinct regional pressures that vary significantly from state to state.
The recent study, commissioned by Southern Utah University, evaluated all 50 states across seven workforce and cyber-crime indicators.
These included cybercrime complaints and financial losses per 100,000 residents; information security analyst employment per 1,000 jobs; mean annual analyst wages; cyber-security education searches per 100,000 residents; growth in education search interest from 2023 to 2025; and projected ten-year analyst job growth.
That research found that Utah ranks 17th out of 50 states in terms of cyber-crime complaints and 16th for cyber-crime losses per capita.
Those factors probably contribute to the Beehive State’s projected cyber-security job growth rate of nearly 60 percent in the next decade, which is expected to be the fastest growing job market in the country.
By comparison, despite facing significant cyber-crime threats in its financial markets, the cyber-security job growth in state of New York is projected at only 7.7 percent over the next 10 years.
The SUU Study found that interest in cyber-security education nationwide increased by 13 percent between 2023 and 2025, with Rhode Island recording the fastest growth while only California saw a decline in overall computer-related education.
The study also revealed that the top ten states in terms of their cyber-security workforce are Maryland, Nevada, Virginia, Delaware, Colorado, California, Rhode Island, Washington and Massachusetts.
For example, Virginia has 4.7 cyber-security analysts per 1,000 workers, compared to just .37 analysts per 1,000 workers in Louisiana, which leads the list of the ten worst states for cyber-security.
Additional information about the SUU cyber-security study can be found at https://online.suu.edu/degrees/technology/cybersecurity-information-assurance/strategy/cyber-jobs-by-state/
Southern Utah University is located in Cedar City. The institution offers an online master of science degree in cyber-security for working professionals who want to build advanced skills in risk management, incident response and information assurance.