Clark County continues growing, albeit at a slower clip than recent years. Between 2017 and 2018, the county’s population grew to 481,857 people — a 1.55 percent increase, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Clark County was still the fastest growing among the seven counties comprising the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore. metropolitan area. It still had the largest numeric increase, gaining 7,365 people. Most of that increase was still primarily from people moving here. The natural increase, which is births minus deaths, still hovered around 2,100.
The one-year estimates, though, should be taken with a grain of salt, said demographer Charles Rynerson with Portland State University’s Population Research Center.
“It’s hard to pin down year-to-year growth,” he said.
An estimate could be too high one year and too low the next. In 2017 the Census estimates were higher than the university’s own population estimates. For 2018, the two estimates drew closer together. (Soon, we’ll find out which one was more accurate. The 2020 census, where the federal government attempts to count every living person in the country, is less than a year away.)
Washington’s most populous counties
1. King County — 2,233,163
2. Pierce County — 891,299
3. Snohomish County — 814,901
4. Spokane County — 514,631
5. Clark County — 481,857
SOURCE: U.S. Census
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Popular weekend getaway Bend-Redmond, Ore., grew 2.8 percent between 2017 and 2018, making it the ninth-fastest growing metro area in the United States.
It’s more accurate to look at population change over a multiyear period. Rynerson suggested looking at how the population has grown since the last official census in 2010. Since that time the Portland metro area grew 11.4 percent, added 252,814 residents and became the 25th most-populous metro area.
“A quarter-million is a lot of people in an eight-year period,” Rynerson said. “We’re still very much in a growth phase.”
Clark County, meanwhile, has grown 13.28 percent since the 2010 census, making it the eighth-fastest growing county in the state. In that time, Clark County gained an estimated 56,497 residents, the fourth-largest numeric increase among Washington’s 39 counties.
But, there’s really no comparison to Puget Sound. Between 2010 and 2018, King County gained 301,871 people, and the greater Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area gained about a half-million people. The area, which offers a lot of high-paying technology and e-commerce jobs, has seen plenty of growth in the last year.
Yi Zhao, chief demographer at the state Office of Financial Management, said Washington’s growth remains job-related.
“I think that pattern stays the same,” she said.
Years ago, population growth was about 60 percent due to natural increase and the rest due to migration, Zhao said. Now, the reverse is true.
In a news release, the Census Bureau said growth between 2017 and 2018 in the United States was concentrated in the South and West. Maricopa County, Ariz. (Phoenix) saw the largest number of new people, gaining an estimated 81,244 residents, followed by Clark County, Nev. (Las Vegas), which gained 48,337 residents.
Preparing for the census
As the 2020 census draws near, demographers are gearing up for the count.
In Washington, the Office of Financial Management is the liaison to the Census Bureau. Zhao said the state is still in the planning phase and will figure out what steps to take based on how much money is allocated by the Legislature. The state is tasked with helping the federal government get an accurate count by doing outreach work.
Rynerson said PSU’s Population Research Center helps the Census Bureau in some technical ways by providing input on city and tract boundaries and helping local organizations interested in promoting the census.
Demographers stress it’s important that as many people as possible participate in the census. Among other uses, the count determines the number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes in each state.
There are multiple ongoing lawsuits against adding a citizenship question to the census, which critics say would depress participation among noncitizens, immigrants and people of color. (The Census Bureau counts people regardless of their citizenship status.)
As the Supreme Court considers whether the census will include a citizenship question, the Census Bureau is moving forward with testing the 2020 census this summer. The federal agency is also hiring for a variety of temporary jobs, including census takers, recruiting assistants, office staff and supervisory staff.
