Washington Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Washington, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Washington. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Washington. The estimated population of Washington is 7,617,364 people, with a median age of 37.9.

We can look at the total population in Washington over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
7,617,364
+1.4%
+6.24%
2020
7,512,465
+1.46%
-
2019
7,404,107
+1.5%
-
2018
7,294,336
+1.73%
-
2017
7,169,967
 - -

Population of Washington by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
66.5%
69.8%
 -4.73%
Black/African American
3.7%
3.5%
 +5.71%
Native
0.9%
1.1%
 -18.18%
Hispanic
13.2%
12.3%
 +7.32%
Asian
8.9%
8%
 +11.25%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.6%
0.6%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
5.8%
4.6%
 +26.09%
Other
0.4%
0.1%
 +300.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Washington by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37.9 +0.26% 37 +0.82% 38.8 0%
2020 37.8 +0.27% 36.7 +0.27% 38.8 0%
2019 37.7 +0.27% 36.6 0% 38.8 +0.26%
2018 37.6 0% 36.6 0% 38.7 0%
2017 37.6 - 36.6 - 38.7 -

The median age of Washington gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 462,783 +2.27% 441,653 +1.73% 473,337 449,312
10 to 19 452,819 +5.83% 431,289 +6.11% 479,699 458,252
20 to 29 526,914 +3.86% 488,459 +3.02% 547,350 503,292
30 to 39 509,338 +13.17% 492,052 +10.63% 579,828 546,436
40 to 49 466,281 +6% 455,579 +4.22% 494,745 475,012
50 to 59 479,139 -0.66% 489,932 -3.74% 475,846 471,858
60 to 69 389,283 +11.47% 418,809 +8.89% 435,873 457,279
70+ 294,331 +16.32% 371,306 +13.54% 345,286 423,959

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Washington is $82,400.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Washington.

  • Under 25
    $45,745.00
  • 25 to 44
    $92,003.00
  • 45 to 64
    $100,122.00
  • 65 and over
    $57,423.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Washington, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Washington, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Washington is currently $111,431.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

12.42% of households in Washington are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Washington against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    12.90%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    16.46%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    16.35%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.35%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    18.70%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    9.81%
  • $200,000 or more
    12.42%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Washington is $43,817.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Washington by the total population of Washington.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Washington, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Washington to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    17.06%
  • Bachelor's degree
    38.15%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.47%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    29.66%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.67%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Washington that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Washington over the age of 16 is 6,120,915.

Of those people, a total of 64.70% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Washington is 60.50%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 364,151 39.50% 17.50%
20 to 24 years 478,112 78.40% 9.20%
25 to 29 years 572,530 84.00% 5.10%
30 to 34 years 579,626 83.00% 4.80%
35 to 44 years 1,044,100 82.90% 4.20%
45 to 54 years 939,276 82.10% 3.70%
55 to 59 years 480,723 73.70% 3.70%
60 to 64 years 484,625 58.10% 3.60%
65 to 74 years 732,246 24.50% 3.50%
75 years and over 445,526 5.80% 4.20%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Washington. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 4,526,255 63.00% 4.80%
Black or African American 229,684 70.00% 8.10%
American Indian and Alaska Native 69,278 58.70% 9.60%
Asian 571,525 68.60% 3.70%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 39,919 70.50% 6.60%
Other 269,881 73.10% 5.60%
Two or more races 414,373 69.50% 7.50%
Hispanic or Latino 674,682 72.50% 6.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 4,260,462 62.50% 4.70%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Washington as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Washington is 3,701,656, with median earnings of $48,885.00.

Women in Washington earning approximately 68.80% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 3,701,656 $48,885.00
Male 1,990,888 $58,027.00
Female 1,710,768 $39,894.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 434,168 $86,435.00
Business and Financial 217,565 $74,104.00
Computer and Mathematical 208,355 $115,774.00
Architecture and Engineering 100,214 $95,569.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 45,551 $71,881.00
Community and Social Service 67,836 $50,473.00
Legal 39,483 $87,840.00
Educational and Library 213,312 $44,300.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 78,749 $44,334.00
Healthcare Practitioners 205,486 $73,022.00
Healthcare Support 129,798 $29,018.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 41,928 $43,325.00
Law Enforcement 25,315 $81,328.00
Food Preparation and Serving 193,259 $20,914.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 112,032 $27,028.00
Personal Care and Service 93,237 $21,204.00
Sales 332,624 $39,144.00
Office and Administrative Support 372,887 $38,982.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 54,852 $28,073.00
Construction and Extraction 182,918 $52,686.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 108,761 $56,249.00
Production 169,973 $44,021.00
Transportation and Material Moving 137,574 $45,090.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 258,030 $98,669.00 176,138 $72,462.00
Business and Financial 97,339 $83,707.00 120,226 $67,115.00
Computer and Mathematical 160,178 $125,127.00 48,177 $96,979.00
Architecture and Engineering 82,629 $99,014.00 17,585 $82,543.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 24,541 $77,177.00 21,010 $66,535.00
Community and Social Service 22,579 $53,489.00 45,257 $48,748.00
Legal 17,363 $118,931.00 22,120 $71,624.00
Educational and Library 58,217 $59,240.00 155,095 $39,834.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 36,432 $52,949.00 42,317 $37,482.00
Healthcare Practitioners 56,676 $91,855.00 148,810 $67,081.00
Healthcare Support 21,693 $32,549.00 108,105 $28,237.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 31,993 $50,039.00 9,935 $27,970.00
Law Enforcement 20,573 $85,552.00 4,742 $68,073.00
Food Preparation and Serving 88,403 $22,311.00 104,856 $19,626.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 69,655 $31,298.00 42,377 $20,832.00
Personal Care and Service 17,782 $23,482.00 75,455 $20,927.00
Sales 167,874 $52,769.00 164,750 $30,005.00
Office and Administrative Support 98,489 $44,078.00 274,398 $37,690.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 39,611 $31,745.00 15,241 $20,613.00
Construction and Extraction 176,041 $52,874.00 6,877 $45,783.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 103,940 $56,725.00 4,821 $46,084.00
Production 127,403 $50,146.00 42,570 $31,601.00
Transportation and Material Moving 114,779 $48,710.00 22,795 $32,370.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 2,931,841 households in Washington, with an average household size of 2.55 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 1,894,023 families in Washington with an average family size of 3.1 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,467,589 140,435 285,999 1,037,818
Average Household Size 3.18 3.3 3.33 1.34
Total Families 1,467,589 140,435 285,999 0
Average Household Size 3.14 2.82 3.02 0

Poverty

Of the 1,894,023 families in Washington, 6.50% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Washington:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 3,170,695 housing units in Washington.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 2,931,841 92.47%
Vacant 238,854 7.53%

32.35% of the total 3,170,695 housing units in Washington are rental units. This is approximately 1,025,583 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 1,864,897 are occupied by the owner - or 58.82% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Washington is $1,439.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Washington that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    41,361
  • Less than $500
    57,980
  • $500 to $999
    189,929
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    301,295
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    253,671
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    127,744
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    50,852
  • $3,000 or more
    44,112

Property Value

The median value of a property in Washington is $397,600.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Washington that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    60,979
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    44,795
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    65,591
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    105,985
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    307,423
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    627,928
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    514,540
  • $1,000,000 or more
    137,656

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Washington. The chart below shows the number of properties in Washington that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    312,355
  • 1940 to 1949
    144,642
  • 1950 to 1959
    226,215
  • 1960 to 1969
    290,799
  • 1970 to 1979
    483,868
  • 1980 to 1989
    406,860
  • 1990 to 1999
    515,971
  • 2000 to 2009
    477,274
  • 2010 to 2013
    304,866
  • 2014 or later
    7,845

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Washington that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    198,606
  • 1 vehicle available
    857,151
  • 2 vehicles available
    1,088,507
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    787,577

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Washington get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Washington that commute to work in a particular way.

27.7 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Washington.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    89,797
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    295,433
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    399,466
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    481,175
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    443,025
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    217,270
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    435,968
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    103,862
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    138,509
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    285,198
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    217,573
  • 90 or more minutes
    100,149

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Washington in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in Washington

We have data for 39 counties in Washington. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in Washington

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Washington, click on the links below.