About This Analysis
We asked a simple question. The answer surprised us.
This analysis was generated using AI-assisted research (Claude) drawing from publicly available data — SEC reports, U.S. Census data, and Utah-specific economic indicators from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. It is not proprietary research. It is a transparent derivation, published here so others can verify, challenge, or improve it.
The question: How many women in the Salt Lake City–Park City corridor could qualify as accredited investors — and could be writing checks to women founders?
The Derivation
Step by step. Every number sourced.
Start with Utah's population
3,551,150
Utah's estimated population as of July 1, 2025. The state added 44,351 residents since 2024.
Focus on the Wasatch Front corridor
~2.8 million
The Salt Lake City–Provo–Ogden Combined Statistical Area had 2,701,129 residents in the 2020 Census, comprising 82.6% of Utah's population. Adjusted for 2025 growth, the corridor is approximately 2.8 million.
Estimate adults (18+)
~1.76 million
Utah has the youngest population in the U.S. Approximately 63% of the population is 18 or older (vs. ~77% nationally), reflecting Utah's high birth rate and large families.
2.8M × 63% = ~1.76M adults on the Wasatch Front
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey — Utah age demographics
Apply the national accredited investor rate
12.6% of adults
SEC research published in 2025 found that approximately 12.6% of U.S. adults qualify as accredited investors — roughly 33.6 million people nationally. This is measured at the individual level using income ($200K+) or net worth ($1M+ excluding primary residence) criteria.
1.76M × 12.6% = ~222,000 accredited adults on the Wasatch Front
Utah likely exceeds the national rate
$96,700 median income (9th in U.S.)
Utah's median household income is 18.4% higher than the U.S. median. The state also has 71,613 millionaire households (7.05% of all households as of 2020) — and that number has likely grown given rising home equity and tech-sector wealth along the Wasatch Front. The 12.6% national rate is likely a conservative floor for Utah.
Estimate women's share
~50% of accredited individuals
The SEC study measures accredited status at the individual level and does not report a gender breakdown. However, the accreditation criteria (net worth or income) apply to individuals regardless of gender. In dual-income households, both partners may independently qualify. National wealth data shows women controlling an increasing share of investable assets. We use 50% as a baseline — noting this may undercount women in Utah who qualify through household net worth but have lower individual income due to Utah's gender pay gap (73¢ on the dollar, worst in the U.S.).
~222,000 × 50% = ~111,000 accredited women on the Wasatch Front
Apply a conservatism adjustment
~88,000 (conservative estimate)
We discount by 20% to account for: (a) the possibility that Utah's gender pay gap reduces women's individual accreditation rate below 50%, (b) the fact that some accredited individuals are in age brackets unlikely to angel invest, and (c) general estimation uncertainty.
~111,000 × 80% = ~88,000 accredited women
Scenario Analysis
Even the low estimate is a large market.
Because several inputs require estimation (Utah-specific accreditation rate, gender split, corridor share), we present three scenarios.
Conservative
~55,000
10% accreditation rate · 45% women
Base Estimate
~88,000
12.6% rate · 50% women · 20% discount
If Utah Outperforms
~120,000
15% rate (above-average income state) · 50% women
All three scenarios suggest the Wasatch Front has tens of thousands of women who could qualify as accredited investors. The number we've used on the Silver & Salt Capital website — 100+ — is deliberately conservative and represents a fraction of even the most modest estimate.
Focus: Park City & Summit County
A concentration of wealth unlike anywhere else in Utah.
Park City and the surrounding Summit County area tell a fundamentally different story than the broader Wasatch Front. This is one of the wealthiest zip codes in the Mountain West — and its demographics suggest an exceptionally dense pool of accredited women investors.
Summit County population
~43,000 residents · ~15,700 households
Summit County had 42,709 residents in 2023 (Census ACS) and is estimated at ~43,000 in 2025. Park City proper has roughly 8,300 residents, but the broader county includes Snyderville, Kimball Junction, Jeremy Ranch, and other communities that function as part of the Park City economy.
Extraordinary income and wealth
$140,875 median · $247,300 average · $1.74M median home
Park City's median household income ($140,875) is nearly double the national median. The average household income ($247,300) is pulled up dramatically by the top earners — the top 5% average $1,294,042. And the median property value of $1.74M is 5.73× the national average. Even excluding primary residence equity (as SEC rules require), the concentration of net worth here is extreme.
The accreditation rate here is not 12.6%
Estimated 25–35% of adults
The national rate of 12.6% was derived from a population where median household income is $78,538 and median home value is $303,400. Park City's income is 1.8× that and home values are 5.7× that. Per capita income in Summit County ($74,755) is nearly double the Utah average. With 56% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher and a median age of 41 (vs. Utah's 31.7), the demographic profile is heavily weighted toward high-net-worth individuals. A 25–35% accreditation rate is a defensible estimate for this community.
~33,000 adults × 30% (midpoint) = ~9,900 accredited adults in Summit County
Source: Rate estimated based on income/wealth indicators vs. national benchmarks. Education data from
Census Reporter
Estimate women's share
~4,000–5,000 accredited women
Applying a 50% gender split (as in the Wasatch Front analysis): ~4,950 accredited women in Summit County. With a 20% conservatism discount: ~3,960. We round to ~4,000–5,000 accredited women in the Park City / Summit County area.
~9,900 × 50% × 80% = ~3,960 (conservative) to ~4,950 (baseline)
The hidden multiplier: second-home owners
57.3% of Park City housing units are vacant
This is the most important number on this page. Over half of Park City's housing stock consists of vacation homes, seasonal residences, and investment properties. The owners of these homes — many of them affluent women — are not counted in the resident population but are deeply connected to the Park City community, attend Sundance, send their children to camps, donate to local causes, and could be activated as investors in Utah businesses. This pool is essentially invisible in Census data but likely doubles or triples the functional number of accredited women with ties to Park City.
Park City's real number: likely 8,000–15,000 accredited women.
Counting residents only, the estimate is ~4,000–5,000. But when you include the women who own second homes, visit seasonally, and have economic ties to the community, the functional pool likely doubles or triples. Park City may be the single highest-density concentration of accredited women in the state — in a town of 8,300 people.
Combined Estimate: Wasatch Front + Park City
The full picture.
Wasatch Front
~88,000
Base estimate · SLC-Provo-Ogden corridor
Park City / Summit County
~4,000–15,000
Residents + second-home owners
Combined Estimate
~92,000–103,000
Accredited women in the S&S Capital market area
Silver & Salt Capital's stated figure of ~100,000 accredited women investors is a rounded working estimate based on the research below.
~100K is a rounded estimate. The combined analysis suggests 92,000–103,000.
The Wasatch Front alone suggests ~88,000 accredited women. Adding Park City and Summit County — including the second-home owners invisible in Census data — pushes the total to approximately 92,000–103,000 accredited women in the Silver & Salt Capital market area. The capital isn't missing — the connection infrastructure between these investors and women founders is what hasn't been built.
Cross-Check: Household Method
A second path to the same conclusion.
The SEC separately reported that 18.5% of U.S. households qualified as accredited in 2022 (household-level, not individual). Utah has approximately 1.1 million households. The Wasatch Front contains roughly 80%.
1.1M × 80% × 18.5% = ~163,000 accredited households on the Wasatch Front. If roughly half of those households include at least one woman who individually qualifies, that's ~81,000 accredited women — consistent with the individual-level base estimate of ~88,000.
Two different methods. Same order of magnitude. The pool is real.
Methodology & Transparency
How this was produced: This analysis was generated using AI-assisted research (Claude), drawing from publicly available data. It was reviewed by Silver & Salt Capital against primary sources. The full derivation is published here so others can verify or extend it.
Accredited investor definition: Per SEC Rule 501 of Regulation D — individual income of $200,000+ (or $300,000+ joint) for the prior two years, or net worth of $1,000,000+ excluding primary residence, or certain professional certifications (Series 7, 65, 82).
Population data: Utah total from Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute (Dec 2025). Wasatch Front CSA from U.S. Census Bureau (2020), adjusted for growth. Summit County / Park City from Census ACS (2023) and World Population Review.
Accreditation rate: 12.6% of U.S. adults from SEC Office of the Investor Advocate survey (Jan 2024 survey, published June 2025). 18.5% of U.S. households from SEC's 2023 review using Federal Reserve SCF data.
Gender split: Estimated at 50% (baseline). No Utah-specific gender breakdown of accredited investors exists in published data. Utah's gender pay gap (73¢ per dollar) may reduce women's income-based accreditation, but net-worth-based qualification (the more common path) is often household-level.
Key limitation: No published source provides a direct count of accredited women investors in Utah or any U.S. state. This is a derived estimate using the best available national rates applied to Utah-specific population and economic data. The actual number could be higher or lower. The Park City / Summit County estimate includes a second-home multiplier that is inherently uncertain — 57.3% vacancy rate is verified but the demographic profile of those owners is estimated.
Sources
SEC Office of the Investor Advocate — "Exploring Accredited Investors and Private Market Securities Ownership," June 2025. 12.6% of U.S. adults qualify.
sec.gov
SEC Review of Accredited Investor Definition — December 2023. 18.5% of U.S. households qualify. Reports growth from 13.2% (2019) to 18.5% (2022).
Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute — Utah Population Estimates, December 2025. Utah population: 3,551,150.
gardner.utah.edu
U.S. Census Bureau — Salt Lake City–Provo–Ogden CSA population: 2,701,129 (2020 Census). 82.6% of Utah's population.
USAFacts / Census Bureau — Utah median household income: $96,700 (2024). Ranked 9th nationally, 18.4% above U.S. median.
usafacts.org
Phoenix Marketing International / NRV Utah — 71,613 millionaire households in Utah (7.05% of total, 2020 data).
nrvutah.com
UWLP, Utah State University — Utah gender pay gap: 73¢ per dollar, worst in U.S. Snapshot 61, 2025.
usu.edu
DQYDJ.com — Accredited investor household analysis using Federal Reserve SCF data. 19.4M accredited households nationally (2023).
dqydj.com
Data USA / Census ACS — Park City, UT: population 8,365, median household income $140,875, average household income $247,300, top 5% mean $1,294,042, median property value $1.74M, 57.3% housing vacancy rate.
datausa.io
Census Reporter / ACS — Summit County, UT: population 42,709, per capita income $74,755 (nearly 2× Utah average), median household income $137,058, 56% bachelor's degree or higher.
censusreporter.org
World Population Review / Census — Summit County estimated population ~43,449 (2026), Park City ~8,296 (2025).
worldpopulationreview.com