The Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) provides employment projections for workforce development areas (WDAs). Geographically, there are 12 WDAs across the state. Washington state’s overall employment is expected to grow to more than 4.4 million jobs, which is an estimated 2.1% annual increase from 2025 to 2034. The Eastern WDA, encompassing nine non-urbanized counties to the east of the Cascade Range, has employment which is estimated to grow the fastest of all WDAs in the state, growing by 3% annually. The Northwest (2.8%) and Olympic (2.4%) WDAs are the second and third fastest growing regions in Washington. Meanwhile, employment in the Benton-Franklin area is expected to only grow by 1.9% per year over the forecasted decade. Interestingly, the Seattle-King County (1.9%) and Tacoma-Pierce (2.1%) WDAs are also among the regions predicted to have the slowest growing employment in the state during this period.

Population and employment are integral to each other. Increasing employment is needed for a region to grow economically, and a growing population is required for those jobs to be filled. Statewide, the population is estimated to grow at a steady 0.8% per year from 2026 to 2035. Franklin County is expected to lead population growth in the state through the next decade, increasing annually by 1.6%. Clark and Thurston counties are both projected to have the second fastest growing populations, each growing 1.2%. Four counties, Grays Harbor, Ferry, Garfield, and Columbia, are estimated to have a decreasing population in the coming years, with Columbia County having the largest loss of 0.5% of their population per year.

Ideally, the annual rates of employment and population should match each other; reflecting the goal of overall growth management. A large gap between the two factors reflects an imbalance which could lead to economic issues. The difference between the employment and population rate in Washington State 1.3 percentage points (PPT). Benton and Franklin counties have the closest gaps out of all the counties in the state, at 0.3 and 0.8 percentage points respectively. Mason and Thurston counties also have some of the smallest gaps in the state, both under a one percentage point difference. The largest difference in the state is 3.5 ppt, in Columbia County. The imbalanced growth between these two factors could indicate that the workforce is expected to grow from non-residents such as commuters or remote workers, while the residential population declines.

Of the five most populous counties, King and Spokane Counties’ populations are estimated to grow relatively slower than the others, increasing by only 0.7% per year. Currently, Spokane County has a larger population than Clark County, however it is estimated that Clark will have the highest anticipated growth rate of these counties at 1.2%, leading to a total population larger than Spokane County in 2034. Curiously, Spokane is still projected to have higher total employment than Clark County despite having a slower projected annual growth. With Clark County located on the Oregon-Washington border just north of Portland, this slowing expansion may imply that the residents of Clark County outsource work to places like Portland.

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Our interns have been hard at work sorting through the myriad of data to help provide important insights for communities across the state.

Recent Updates

Residential building permits give context into the short-term future growth of a region’s economy. They indicate the demand for housing by current and prospective residents as well as the supply of work for industries such as construction and real estate.

Quarterly Residential Building Permits

Five counties had percent changes above 100%, or doubling in size, from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026. The building permits in Douglas County grew over six times in this
period- the most of any county in the state. Pierce, Walla Walla, Island, and Thurston counties all also experienced at least a doubling in the number of permits from the same quarter, previous year. The lowest annual percent change in Washington was Chelan County, with a decrease in building permits of -73%. Chelan and Douglas counties capture the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee MSA, which makes it an interesting observation that one side of the river is growing faster than the other.

AWB Vitals also tracks the residential building permits per 1,000 people. Per capita measures allow for a fairer comparison across counties which may not be similar in size and reveal growth relative to population. In Q2 2026, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue had the highest total building permits in the state, increasing by over 90% since the same quarter last year, but the per capita growth for this area was very average at 1.5 permits per 1000 people. In contrast, Longview MSA had only 77 new residential building permits this quarter, the lowest in Washington, as well as the lowest per capita growth.

The most populous counties in Washington State are King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane and Clark. Of these counties, Pierce experienced the highest increase of permits at 215%, while Spokane and Clark counties both had an annual decrease of – 19%. At a long-term glance, from Q2 2019 to Q2 2026, Pierce still has the highest increase, though King and Snohomish counties see the largest negative change in building permits, decreasing at –41% and -19% respectively.

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Lake Stevens High School students tour the Aviation Technical Services (ATS) in Everett. (Photo: Brian Mittge/AWB)

AWB kicked off the 10th anniversary of the Manufacturing Week bus tour by supporting events in three cities connecting students to career opportunities in today’s modern, high-tech manufacturing. More than 300 students — ranging from 3rd graders to high school — took part in events in Everett, Spokane and Tri-Cities last week.

In the Tri-Cities, 175 students participated in STEM Discovery Day at Washington State University Tri-Cities. WSU partnered with Finley Elementary School to introduce 3rd through 5th grade students to hands-on STEM activities, with students rotating through stations from rocket building and human anatomy to fluid dynamics and demonstrations with a robot dog.

Finley Elementary School students check out a robot dog at WSU Tri-Cities.

“We want students having some really positive, affirming and empowering entry points to STEM because we know there are a lot of exciting jobs in STEM in industries locally here,” said Anna Plemons, associate vice chancellor academic and student affairs.

In Spokane, 130 middle school and high school girls took part in Girls in Manufacturing Day. The day included field trips to local manufacturers, hands-on welding and machining activities, and insights from women leaders in the industry.

Gary Gillespie, engineering and manufacturing teacher at Ferris High School, worked with two middle school teachers to pull the event together in four weeks. The event aimed to introduce girls to career options in manufacturing, which is something they might not have considered before.

“The opportunities are endless,” he said. “A lot of times when you talk about manufacturing, students are like ‘well, I don’t want to be a welder.’ There are so many things in manufacturing that can interest students in a variety of different ways.”

Students from Ferris High School toured operations at HotStart and MacKay Manufacturing in Spokane Valley.

“I am very much interested in being an engineer, particularly in architecture and aerospace, and knowing it’s welcoming and a good industry to be in is definitely encouraging,” said ninth-grader Lauchlyn Cooper-Framke.

Twenty seven girls from Ferris High School toured MacKay Manufacturing in Spokane Valley.

MacKay Manufacturing, led by second-generation leader Katie MacKay, is committed to building a local talent pipeline and runs in-house training programs. Events like Girls in Manufacturing Day help spark interest.

“I just need people to be interested and I can teach them from there,” MacKay said. “I just need that little seed planted.”

In Everett, 25 high school students from Lake Stevens took an in-depth tour of opportunities within the aerospace industry, thanks to a partnership with the Aerospace Futures Alliance.

They began at the Washington Aerospace Training & Research (WATR) Center, learning about its 12-week program that teaches the fundamentals of aerospace manufacturing — and offers its graduates a direct entry to Boeing jobs without an interview through the Boeing Pre-Employment Training program.

Many of the students are part of the Core Plus Aerospace training program at Lake Stevens High School. The skills gained through Core Plus can allow students to enter the WATR Center program a third of the way through the program, cutting out a month of training.

Lake Stevens High School students tour the WATR Center in Everett. (Photo: Brian Mittge/AWB)

Matt Poischbeg, executive director of the WATR Center, told students that job opportunities are “huge right now” in aerospace manufacturing.

“Boeing is hiring like crazy right now,” Poischbeg said. “Believe it or not, Boeing and Everett are the center of the world for aerospace… You’re basically at the pinnacle. The world is your oyster. You just have to keep your eyes open and step out of your comfort zone.”

Students got to see some of those careers in action at their next stop at Aviation Technical Services (ATS), where workers busily perform upkeep and repair work on a variety of airplanes, from routine maintenance to major fix-up jobs. ATS has a robust apprenticeship program that begins right out of high school with paid on-the-job training.

Denys, a Lake Stevens High School student and aspiring aircraft mechanic, said that seeing airplanes open for repair added a whole new dimension to the theoretical knowledge he already had.

“Just how complex it is — on paper, the principle of stuff, the engine compresses, puts fuel into it, but you look at the engine, there are so many intricate parts in it, and each one does something,” he said.

Get involved

AWB will be visiting manufacturers across the state this October for the weeklong bus tour. Contact Britney Martin at the AWB Institute, britneym@awb.org, to get your classroom connected to your local manufacturers and training facilities.

If you’re a manufacturer and want to host students at your facility, visit our event page to learn more and apply to become a tour stop.

Lake Stevens High School pose with the AWB Manufacturing Week 10-year anniversary flag inside a Boeing 767 fuselage section at the WATR center in Everett. (Photo: Brian Mittge/AWB)

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With the release of the US Census Bureau’s 2024 ACS five-year estimates, the hard-working interns at the EWU Institute for Public Policy & Economic Analysis have completed the following updates to 12 vitals for the first couple months of this year. Below are some highlights of what we saw in the data.

Recent Updates

WA Gross Domestic Product (25Q3)
This quarterly indicator tracks the total quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state and benchmarks it against the US. Real GDP is expressed in constant 2017-dollar values. The state’s total output continued to increase with Q3 of 2025 GDP coming in at just over $722 billion, a 3.4% annualized increase from the previous quarter. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, statewide GDP has grown at a solid and healthy 2.3% rate, matching the rate of the US more broadly and helping to maintain economic growth without triggering excessive inflation. Compared to other states, Washington’s performance in the third quarter of 2025 was much more moderate to some states who experienced robust jumps of 5% to 6.5% and many states landed between 4% to 5% quarterly growth.

Median Household Income
According to data from the American Community Survey (ACS) at the US Census in 2024, half of all households in the state earned more than $99,389 (median household income), an increase of over 5% from the previous year (2023). Median household income for the US grew at a similar 5% rate, to $81,604. Household income measures all sources of “money” (not in-kind) income, and is primarily comprised of wages, salaries and benefits.

Not surprisingly, the highest median household incomes are those on the west side of the state. In King County, half of all households bring in over $122,000 annually. Snohomish has the second highest MHI with nearly $110,000, followed by Clark County with nearly $100,000.

East of the Cascades, Benton County’s $91,000 is above both the Tri Cities (Kennewick-Pasco-Richland MSA) with $89,600 and Spokane County’s $86,000. The Wenatchee-East Wenatchee MSA has a median household income of $80,000, just under the national average of $81,600.

While the state overall and larger counties have high MHIs, incomes do vary widely across the state, especially between urban and rural communities. Counties with the lowest median household incomes in 2024 included Grays Harbor ($59,600), Grant County ($73,000) and Yakima County ($75,000).

For some rural counties, because the sample sizes are small, the ACS only reports median household as a five-year rolling average. Over the interval 2020-2024, Whitman County’s median household income of just over $55,000 was the lowest in the state. Ferry ($56,000), Wahkiakum ($63,000) and Okanogan ($64,000) were also well below the state average when using ACS five-year estimates. Students influence the Whitman County results.

Turning from the level of household income to rates of change, the counties with the greatest one year jump in median household incomes included Mason (+16.3%), Lewis (+15.3%) and Spokane (+14.6%). Whatcom (+13%), Clallam (+11%) and Benton (+10%) all had double-digit increases over the previous year (2023), well above the state average growth rate of 5%.

Median household income in the Seattle MSA grew only 1.5% from 2023 to 2024. The Walla Walla MSA and Mount Vernon-Anacortes MSA remained flat and there were four counties that saw decreases in median household income over the previous year: Grays Harbor (-13%), Grant (-3.4%) and Franklin (-3.4%) and Island (-3%).

Taking a little longer look back, the Spokane MSA has seen the greatest rate of increase over the past five years from 2019 to 2024, averaging 7.5% annually, above the state average growth rate of 4.8%. The Longview MSA also saw over 7% compounded annual growth, with Bremerton-Silverdale (6.5%) and Mount Vernon-Anacortes (6.3%) also at the top of the urban centers of the state.

On the east side of the state, Yakima MSA (6%), Wenatchee-East Wenatchee MSA (5.7%) and the Tri Cities (5.6%) also exceeded the state average over the past five
years.

On the west side of the state, Olympia-Tumwater MSA (4.6%) and Bellingham MSA (4.4%) were close to the state average and above the national average (4.4%). Regions with the slowest growth in median household income over the past five years include Grays Harbor (-0.5%), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA (+3.6%) and Island County (+4%).

The post Latest Insights: Washington State’s GDP and Median Household Income appeared first on AWB Institute.

Top-scoring essay finalists will be invited to compete in a regional competition this spring, with the finalists advancing to the statewide finals June 20 in Olympia. The state champion will be invited to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Civics Bee national championship in fall 2026.

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Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged to recognize the quality in your own firm. We also have many nominations come in as employers recognize clients and partner firms.

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Your shop floor could be next: We’re already planning the route for the 2026 Manufacturing Week bus tour, which will visit manufacturing facilities across the state Sept. 30-Oct. 7. We want your business to help us celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the bus tour!

• If you are interested in becoming a tour stop, fill out this application of interest form.

Check out our manufacturing tour stop guide to learn more about becoming a stop.

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The competition begins with an essay-writing contest, with entries due by Feb 3. Judges will select finalists for regional competitions this spring, with the top three advancing to the statewide finals June 20 in Olympia. The state champion will be invited to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Civics Bee national championship in fall 2026.

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Middle-school students from across the state competed for the state championship in the National Civics Bee during a competition hosted by the AWB Institute at Olympia High School on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo: Brian Mittge/AWB)

Fifteen Washington state middle schoolers represented their communities and demonstrated their civics knowledge at the 2025 National Civics Bee Washington state finals.

Maanha Nasir, a student at Washington Virtual Academies, answers questions from judges during the final round of the National Civics Bee Washington State Championship at Olympia High School on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo: Brian Mittge/AWB)

OLYMPIA – A new Washington state National Civics Bee champion has earned a ticket to Washington D.C. and a $1,000 cash prize. The AWB Institute partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation for the third year to host a statewide civics competition at the Olympia High School Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 21.

The National Civics Bee invites 6th, 7th and 8th grade students to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. The Washington state finalists were selected based on their essay submissions and the results of regional competitions hosted by four Washington chambers this spring.

Maanha Nasir, who just completed 8th grade at Washington Virtual Academies, won first place and will represent the state at the National Civics Bee Championship in Washington D.C. this November, competing against other state Civics Bee champions. Maanha, who is from Snoqualmie, wrote an essay and gave a speech about education inequality between nearby school districts.

“Civics opened the door to something so much larger than life,” Maanha said. “Middle schoolers may not be able to vote, but we do have a voice.”

This is the second straight year that Washington Virtual Academies has had a first-place finisher.

Sara Akmel (second from left), of Kent, who just completed eighth grade at Mill Creek Middle School, stands with her family next to a copy of the essay she wrote about solving a pressing community problems.

Sara Akmel, an 8th grader from Mill Creek Middle School in Kent, won second place and $500, while 6th grader Calista Christiansen, a homeschooled student from Lyle in Klickitat County, took third place and received $250.

The competition included two quiz rounds with questions on the U.S. Constitution, branches of government and court cases. After the second round, there was a tiebreaker between four students. The final five were given three minutes to pitch their ideas for how they can improve their communities through civics to the judges.

The judges included Bill Brownsberger, president of Saint Martin’s University; Joyce D. Hammer, deputy executive director for education at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges; and Ben Small, executive director of LaunchNW. Catherine Brazil, director for Spokane and Eastern Washington Relations at the University of Washington, served as the emcee.

“We hope today has given you faith in the future of our state, and the commitment of our next generation to be part of our shared civic life. We’re seeing the future through their eyes,” said AWB Interim Vice President of Government Affairs Morgan Irwin.

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The 15-year vision, called Washington in the Making 2040, is based on the input of more than 4,200 Washingtonians, gathered through 22 town hall meetings and a statewide survey. The plan reflects the shared priorities of Washingtonians: housing that is affordable, more resources for workforce development and job training, clean and reliable power, and a business climate that supports growth and innovation.

At the launch event at Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, AWB President Kris Johnson highlighted Washington’s legacy of inventions, from the backpack and nation’s first fully automated car wash to the colorful glass works by Tacoma-born artist Dale Chihuly.

“Washington in the Making 2040 provides a clear vision and goals, and it’s aligned with Washington’s history, which is a history of exceptional inventions. We are people who make things,” Johnson said.

“It is rooted in optimism about what’s possible when we work together—business, government, and communities—to shape a thriving economy and expand opportunity for every region,” added Washington Roundtable President Steve Mullin.

The vision is structured around four pillars: workforce, business environment, infrastructure and place and community. Read the plan and explore the research.

As a next step, AWB and the Washington Roundtable will host a series of solution summits to bring the plan to life. The first solutions summit, coming in October, will focus on energy generation and transmission. Stay tuned for details.

In addition, progress will be measured through the AWB Institute Vitals, a data dashboard that tracks 36 economic indicators down to the county level.

“No one group or plan or community has all the solutions,” Johnson said “But together, we can make solutions. That’s what we do in Washington.”

1. Talent and Workforce

By 2040, Washington aims to be home to the best prepared, best trained workforce in the nation.  A key part is introducing young people to careers early.

The plan calls for creating 10,000 new work-based learning experiences every year, such as internships, job shadows or facility tours. “Imagine if every business, every company in Washington, provided even one or two of those experiences. How many trajectories and lives might we change?” said Paula Linnen, board chair of the AWB Institute and principal of The Foster Institute.

One tool that already exists is the Washington Workforce Portal, which pairs employers with students seeking work-based learning opportunities.

Learn more in this video.

2. Business Environment

Washington is one of the most regulated states for business owners in the country. The plan calls for streamlining regulations and creating a tax environment that is more competitive, consistent and predictable.

“We’ve got to create an environment where businesses not only come, but the great businesses we have want to stay,” said Tod Leiweke, president, CEO and minority owner of the Seattle Kraken.

When opening Fiddle’s Coffee House in Yakima, Efrain Martinez and Fidel Negrete had to navigate a confusing maze of permits and licenses.

“I think Washington state can have an easier website where you can find all the resources on one page,” Martinez said in a video.

3. Infrastructure and Connectivity

Over the next decade, energy demand is expected to rise by 30% across the Pacific Northwest, driven by electrification and the growth of industries like artificial intelligence.

The plan calls for both maintaining the energy generation we have today – including hydropower, natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear – and investing in additional carbon-free energy sources. Meeting energy demand will also require new storage and transmission.

“We are one of the lowest-cost energy providers in the nation, and we want to preserve that affordability while also making progress in clean energy goals,” said Jason Thackston, SVP of energy policy and chief strategy officer at Avista Corp.

Learn more in this video.

4. Place and Community

In the town halls and statewide survey, residents said a lack of affordable and available housing affected many aspects of the economy.

“We have jobs here, but if we can’t bring employees here to live, that’s a drag on the economy,” Spencer Gardner, planning director at the City of Spokane, said in a video.

By 2040, Washington will need at least one million new housing units – of all types and for all income levels.

“Fundamentally we have a supply problem, and it’s a self-inflicted supply problem,” said Tim Schauer, a professional engineer and developer who spoke at the launch event.

The state will need to address zoning restrictions, long permitting processes and unrealistic requirements for homebuilders. In Spokane, the city changed zoning laws to allow for mixed-income neighborhoods and saw a housing boom, permitting more units in 2024 than in any previous year.

To learn more about Washington in the Making 2040, visit wa2040.org.

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