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Demographics of Snohomish County

Snohomish County is located on Puget Sound, between Skagit County to the north and King County (and Seattle) to the south. Covering 2,090 square miles, it is the 13th largest county in Washington. Snohomish County's varied topography ranges from saltwater beaches, rolling hills and rich river bottom farmlands in the west to dense forest and alpine wilderness in the mountainous east. Glacier Peak, at 10,541 feet, is one of the highest mountains in the country. Sixty-eight percent of the county is forest land, 19% is rural, 8% is urban/city and 5% is agricultural (1993 figures).

Snohomish is the third most populous county in the state, and one of the fastest growing. The year 2000 population is 606,024. Between 1990 and 2000, Snohomish County population grew by about 30%. The unincorporated population (outside cities) is 291,385, and the incorporated population (inside cities) is 314,639. In terms of population and economic vitality, Snohomish County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state. In the last decade, population grew by one-third and jobs increased by nearly 60 %. The county benefits from its adjacent location and strong relationship with King County, especially in aerospace and other high-technology fields.

Nonagricultural wage and salary workers employed in Snohomish County, as of September 2000, were 218,200. In September 1999, there were 217,600. The September 2000 unemployment rate was 3.4% for Snohomish County, down from 3.7% in August 2000. This unemployment rate is the lowest since December 1998, when it was 3.3%.

In 1999, residential building permits were issued for 7,452 new units (including single family, duplexes, multi-family and mobile homes). The unincorporated area had 4,534 units permitted (down from 5,262 in 1998), and the cities had 2,918 units (down from 3,784 in 1998). From 1990 through 1999, total county residential permits have been issued for 62,435 housing units. In 2000, the unincorporated area had 3,786 units permitted, down 17% from 1999. Everett (pop. 84,330) is the largest city and has served as the county seat since 1897.

Snohomish County enjoys a moderate year-round climate, with average temperatures ranging from about 75o in July to about 33o in January. The Olympic Mountains to the west, across Puget Sound, shelter the area from excessive precipitation coming off the Pacific Ocean. Annual precipitation in the western part of the county is 35 inches, but increases sharply as the elevation climbs into the Cascades Mountains (Town of Index, 110"-120").

Source: The literature above was compiled from State and Local (Snohomish County) government documents

Source: Office of Financial Management. 2005-2020 projections are based on the Jan. 2002 intermediate forecast projections.

Source: Office of Financial Management

Source:  Washington Health Foundation and Office of Financial Management

Source:  U.S. Census Bureau

Source:  U.S. Census Bureau

Source: Snohomish Health District

Source: Snohomish Health District

Snohomish County Population by City/Town

Source:  Office of Financial Management

  Source:  Office of Financial Management

*NOTE:  The growth in the above tables includes annexations as well as flat population growth.

Projections of the Total Resident Population for the Growth Management Act

Snohomish County Low, Intermediate & High Series:  2000-2025

Source:  Office of Financial Management

Source: The Everett Herald

Racial and Ethnic Diversity

Racial and ethnic diversity in Snohomish County continued to increase during the 1990s. Changes in Census 2000 make direct comparisons difficult, requiring arbitrary reclassification of Census 2000 categories into those used in 1990. Without such manipulation, only two categories can be compared and used as indicators of the greater diversification that has occurred: (1) Hispanics of any race increased by 168% during the 1990-2000 decade and accounted for 4.7% of the total population in 2000; (2) non-Hispanic Whites increased by 17.9% over the 1990-2000 decade but, since the overall population grew by 30.1%, their proportion of the total fell from 91.9% to 83.4% during that time. Given continued in‑migration and the comparatively younger age distributions and higher birth rates in non-White and Hispanic groups, the trend toward greater diversity can be expected to continue.

Census 2000 reported that, of those that select a single race, there were 35,030 Asians (5.8% of the total); 10,113 Blacks (1.7%); 8,250 American Indians and Alaskan Natives (1.4%); 1,705 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (0.3%); and 11,629 Other Race (1.9%, but 90.8% of this group was also Hispanic). Fully 20,349 persons (3.4% of the total) belong to two or more racial groups. There were 28,590 Hispanics of any race (4.7% of the total), all of which are included in the above race categories.

Racial and cultural diversity can also be measured by the number of public school students that report English as a second language (ESL). In October, 1999, Snohomish County school districts reported 3,579 ESL students speaking 75 different languages.  This represented 3.44% of the public school population. The largest first language of ESL students was Spanish spoken by 999 students (0.96%), followed by Russian with 526 students (0.51%), Ukrainian with 387 students (0.37%), Vietnamese with 385 students (0.37%) and 281 Korean speaking students (0.27%). The remaining ESL students are spread among 70 other languages, many that are not familiar to most Americans such as Hmong, Tigrinya, and Farsi. 

Snohomish County Population by Race & Hispanic or Latino Origin A Forced Comparison of Census 1990 and Census 2000 Distributions

Notes:                                                                                                                 

(1)     Census 2000 asked respondents to identify "one or more" races to indicate what they consider themselves to be. Census 1990 asked respondents to identify only one race. Also, Census 2000 reports separate the Census 1990 grouping of Asian & Pacific Islander into two, "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander". As a result, racial data from the two censuses are not directly comparable. Adding the persons who listed two or more races in Census 2000 to each of the races that they identified arrives at the above comparison.                                                                                   

(2)     Hispanic or Latino persons or persons of Hispanic Origin can be of any race. The numbers given here are duplicative in that Hispanic or Latino persons are all included in the racial categories (AsnPI, Black, NtvAm, White) as well. Care should be taken in the use of these numbers to avoid misleading conclusions.

1. Snohomish County Health District.  Data cut into planning divisions of Suburban, Rural and Urban areas of Snohomish County.  These divisions are defined by the Snohomish County Health District and coincide with the Community Partners public opinion survey.

2. Washington Health Foundation.  April 2001 Snohomish County Health Profile.

3. Washington State County Growth Management Population Projections:  Washington State Office of Financial Management:  2000-2025. [http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/gma/index.htm]

4. Historical/Current Data Set: Total Resident Population by Year by County since 1960.   Washington State Office of Financial Management. [http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/coseries/index.htm ]

5. Historical Data Set: Decennial Population Counts by Cities.  Washington State Office of Financial Management: 1890 to 2000. [http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/decseries/index.htm]

6. Ranking of Counties and Cities and Towns by Total Population.  Washington State Office of Financial Management:  2000. http://www.ofm.wa.gov/census2000/pl/tables/ctable01.htm]

7. Washington State Data Book.  Washington State Office of Financial Management.  [http://www.ofm.wa.gov/databook/county/snoh.htm]

8. Snohomish County Profile.  Snohomish County Government. [http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/profile.htm]

9. Snohomish County.  Washington State Labor Market Information, Access Washington. [http://www.wa.gov/esd/lmea/labrmrkt/sum/snohsum.htm ]

10. United States Census Bureau.  Population by race, sex and age.  [http://censtats.census.gov/data/WA/05053061.pdf]

11. 1990 Census of Population and Housing, Summary Population and Housing Characteristics:  Washington, Table 3, published. #1990 CPH-1-49.  US Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC; 8/1991.

12. Census 2000 Redistricting Data (PL04-171) Summary File:  Washington, Detailed Table#PL1 On CDROM, US Dept of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC; 4/2001.