Population grew 2.17 percent from April 2016 to April 2017
By Patty Hastings, Columbian
Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: June 30, 2017, 8:06pm
Share:
Aerial view of the Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Camas in March 2015. The population of Camas grew even faster than that of fast-growing Ridgefield from April 2016 to April 2017 and gained 1,270 residents, but that was partly due to annexation. (The Columbian files)
Clark County’s population grew 2.17 percent to 471,000 from April 2016 to April 2017, making it the third-fastest-growing county in the state.
Of the 9,990 residents the county gained between April 2016 and April 2017, 7,819 migrated here from somewhere else, according to annual estimates released Friday by the state Office of Financial Management. Births outnumbered deaths, accounting for the rest of the growth.
Chief demographer Yi Zhao said job growth and low unemployment are major reasons for all of the newcomers.
“It’s pretty much the same story as last year,” she said. “We’ll see what happens next year.”
There’s been strong population growth the last few years — statewide and countywide — and Zhao doubts whether that growth is sustainable. She’s also unsure whether Clark County will reach half a million residents by the 2020 Census. Assuming a 2 percent growth rate, the population that year should fall just below 500,000.
Clark County’s population growth has been affected by global factors.
In the 1990s, Zhao said, growth was primarily driven by U.S. immigrants who became legal citizens and then brought family members to the United States. After that wave of new residents, growth in Washington slowed down.
Growth picked up again when the economy was doing particularly well. When the recession happened, many people were stuck. People moved away from Clark County between 2009 and 2010. From 2010 to 2011, the county gained just 189 newcomers.
It was a much different story from today.
“This time we have (foreign) immigration, and we also have people moving from Oregon and California,” Zhao said.
More people are moving here from those states than the other way around. Being on the state border, Clark County is particularly susceptible to getting newcomers from Portland.
The growth has made affordable housing a top challenge for Clark County.
The Office of Financial Management estimates that less than 4,000 new housing units were built in Clark County last year. Many new apartment complexes and subdivisions are now in the works, however.
Ridgefield, which in recent years was one of the fastest-growing cities in the state, gained a few hundred new residents between 2016 and 2017. Camas grew faster than Ridgefield and gained 1,270 residents, but that was partly due to annexation. La Center and Yacolt each gained a handful of residents, and Battle Ground grew by an estimated 730 people. Washougal saw a couple hundred new people. There are 4,410 new residents in the unincorporated areas of Clark County.
Between April 2016 and April 2017, Vancouver gained an estimated 2,900. The city’s population will increase by about 4,600 residents on Aug. 1 due to annexation of Van Mall North, an area of approximately 2 square miles or 1,270 acres.
The number of people Clark County gained pales in comparison to King County, the state’s most densely populated county and home to more than 2.1 million people. Seattle alone gained 26,900 people between 2016 and 2017 and has one of the hottest housing markets in the country, if not the hottest. Like Clark County, the area is dealing with its own lack of available housing.
The state population increased 1.76 percent to an estimated 7,310,300 residents.
Morning Briefing Newsletter
Get a rundown of the latest local and regional news every Mon-Fri morning.
