When Blaine Davis returned to Utah County after serving a two-year church mission in the Provo area, he had no idea what would come next.

“I didn’t really know where I wanted to go,” Davis said. “Whatever job’s going to provide for my family. That was like the one stipulation I had.”

After completing a diesel mechanics degree at Utah Valley University, Davis worked a handful of blue-collar jobs and then started Optimize Auto, a mobile mechanics service operating in Utah and Salt Lake counties. Now he manages the company from a rented two-bedroom apartment in Lehi, taking care of his toddler while his wife attends massage school.

Working hard to make ends meet amid soaring costs for housing, food and education, the always-smiling Davis is the optimistic face of a new generation of working-class families who are putting the American dream to the test.

“We’re just rockin’ and rollin’ man, living the dream,” Davis said, before adding with a chuckle, “I guess.”

Data from a new poll conducted by HarrisX for the Deseret News reveals a conflicted working class, where many have experienced upward economic mobility during their own lives, but amid rising costs and financial instability still find themselves skeptical of the American dream.

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