Trending News

New Northeast Washington Trends Website

New Northeast Washington Trends Website

IPPEA Launches New Trends Site
The Institute for Public Policy is proud to announce the revival and relaunch of the Northeast Washington Trends website, which has been updated and improved to better serve the people of Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties. Northeast Washington trends is supported by...
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Debt in America: An Interactive Map

Debt in America: An Interactive Map

Debt in Walla Walla

The Urban Institute recently updated the data tool, Debt in America: An Interactive Map, which uses credit bureau data as well as summary tables from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). The interactive map shows how different types of debt affect different communities. It specifically looks at...
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Best States for Women Small Business Owners in 2024

Best States for Women Small Business Owners in 2024

Washington Leads the Nation

In a recent article from Lendio, a leading lender to small businesses, Washington was graded as being the best state in the country for women small business owners. America has seen more small businesses starting recently, with 10 million new startups alone from...
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Trends In Action

Increases in Teenagers & Seniors Leave Median Age Unchanged

Perhaps to nobody’s surprise, the amenities of southeast Washington continue to be attractive to retirees as the fastest growing age group in the combined counties of Walla Walla and Columbia. And although the median age is higher than the state average, what is intriguing is that it is not statistically different from a decade ago. So, while the state...
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Retail Leakage from Walla Walla Seems to be Growing

The indicator Taxable Retail Trade Sales per Capita displays a relatively rare phenomenon of economic data: it has trended down. While this is a desirable outcome for a few measures, such as the Consumer Price Index, for most other measures of a local economy, we’d like to see them moving in the other direction. Specifically, 2023 results for...
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Homeowners Paying 30%+ of Income on Shelter Costs Have Risen

What a difference a pandemic makes! In 2019, the estimated number of households in the Walla Walla metro area (Columbia and Walla Walla Counties) that were cost-burdened was 1,950. Or, 12.5% of all households. Fast forward to 2023: the estimated number had nearly doubled to 3,619. Or, 23% of all households. In fact, as...
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New Intern Features

Alanna Mesecher

Hometown: Valley, WA

Major: Accounting

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2025

Post-graduation plans: Start looking for a career with a CPA firm, or a non-profit organization.

After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
I enjoy collecting data and learning new information. Collecting and providing data that helps community leaders make important decisions is very rewarding, and I’m thankful to be a part of it. 

Jimena Ramos

Hometown: Royal City, Washington

Major: Data Analytics

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2025

Post-graduation plans: Find a job in Spokane or Tri-Cities

After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:
My favorite thing is the opportunity to see the impact of our work and how it influences strategic decisions. It’s been interesting diving deep into data analysis and learning new skills. I’ve enjoyed collaborating with Dr. Jones, Dr. Cullen, and the other interns as they’re a great team!