Washington Economy

Where can I find the current rate of inflation?

The two most common indexes of inflation are the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the U.S. Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption (IPD). Values of these indexes are published by the Office of the Forecast Council in the quarterly economic and revenue forecast publication, which contain the following tables:

• Table A4.1 Selected Inflation Indicators (Price Deflator, U.S. CPI, Seattle CPI)
• Table A4.2 Chain-weighted price indices

Additional information concerning inflation is available on the OFM website. A comprehensive discussion of the Consumer Price Index is available at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website.

How much do people in Washington earn? What is the average wage? What is the median household income?

The average wage for Washington workers in 2019, was $68,927. The trend in average wage for Washington compared with that of the U.S. overall is shown in Washington Trends in a chart. Table CT09 in the Washington State Data Book shows the average wage for Washington and U.S. workers.

Information about other income items for all states is available at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis website.

The estimated median money income for Washington households in 2019 was $76,840. A historical series of median household income by county can be found on OFM’s website.

Poverty

How many Washington residents live in poverty?

In 2019, approximately 9.8% of the state population lived below the poverty level.

Additional information about the population in poverty is located in Washington trends.

State Government

How many state employees are there?

In fiscal year 2020, there were 120,288 FTEs on an annual basis, with the largest number of people employed in transportation, higher education institutions, correctional facilities, and state social service and health agencies. The number of state employees is typically measured in terms of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff years; one person working 40 hours a week for a full year would be counted as one FTE staff year. (Two people working half-time also count as one FTE.) Although the state provides funding for compensation for local school teachers, this support is in the form of grants so K-12 teachers are not considered state employees in FTE statistics.

How many more employees are there now vs. 20 years ago?

There were approximately 20,360 more FTE state employees in 2020 than in 2000. Population growth has generally been a major driver of growth in state government employment. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) state employees has generally tracked closely with growth in the state's total population.

State Government FTEs Compared to Population are plotted in a chart in Washington Trends.

Health Care

How many Washington residents are not covered by health insurance?

The latest estimate shows that 5.3% of the people in Washington were not covered by health insurance in 2021. This rate is the lowest ever recorded for Washington and is nearly 9 percentage points lower than in 2013 (14%), the year before implementation of key health care coverage provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). For more information, see Washington Data & Research Health Care page.

Population

How many people live in Washington?

As of April 1, 2022, 7,864,400 persons resided in Washington. OFM develops official April 1 population estimates for the state, counties, and cities and towns each year.

Additional population information is available in the Population section of this website.

Where can I find the population of a city or town in Washington?

OFM develops population estimates for incorporated cities and towns in Washington each year. These estimates are released on June 30 on the OFM website. The most up-to-data estimates are always available on the Official April 1 Population Estimates page. City and town populations are also published in Population Trends, which is updated annually in September.

Census 2020

Where can I get information about Washington from Census 2020?

Decennial census information for Washington is available at the OFM Census 2020 website and through the U.S. Census Bureau website.

How do I determine the Census geographies for my location?

To find census geography for any location in the country, enter the street address in the Census Geocoder. You can use those geographies to find Census data at data.census.gov.

E-mail: OFM.Forecasting@ofm.wa.gov