A substantial accumulation of polling data over the years has given us a pretty clear picture of current public perceptions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among the most consistent, top-of-mind impressions is that of a Utah church with a heavily Caucasian membership. Naturally, Utah will always be associated with the church, as its global headquarters and the place which provided refuge way back in the mid-1800s when a less friendly America forced the fledgling faith to uproot from Illinois and Missouri and move West. Today, Utah and the surrounding states of the intermountain West still claim the heaviest concentrations of Latter-day Saints, and provide substantial support to the church’s missionary efforts and other church programs.
But the popular picture of a predominantly Utah faith with mostly Caucasian members no longer holds up.