{"id":1970,"date":"2026-08-18T14:43:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wallawallatrends.org\/newsletter\/?page_id=1970"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:43:43","slug":"aug26_main3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wallawallatrends.org\/newsletter\/aug26_main3\/","title":{"rendered":"Walla Walla County\u2019s Population Continued its Historical Slow Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Dr. Patrick Jones<\/strong><\/p>

Measures of life in Walla Walla hold\u00a0more than a few\u00a0stories of\u00a0expansion. Think of taxable retail sales. The share of the population who are registered voters.\u00a0Or the share of the population with a\u00a0bachelor\u2019s degree or higher.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But population estimates here do not portray a growth story.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In estimates published by the Washington State Office of Financial Management around July 4<\/span>th<\/span>, about 300\u00a0more\u00a0county residents were present April 1 of this year\u00a0over\u00a0April 1 of 2025.\u00a0That brings a total of\u00a0nearly 62,000, not counting the penitentiary population.\u00a0The gain\u00a0translates into a year-over-year growth rate of 0.5%. Even in the world of population growth rates, which are typically\u00a0low\u00a0single digits, this is a tepid rate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The state, not surprisingly, grew faster, at 0.8%. But with that rate, set against\u00a0recent rapid advances \u2013 all above 1% per year,\u00a0represented\u00a0a significant downturn.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

That said, last year\u2019s result for the\u00a0county\u00a0was in keeping with the simple average annual\u00a0growth rate over the past years, at 0.5%.\u00a0In contrast, the recent year-over-year growth rate for Benton and Franklin Counties was, at 1.9%, nearly\u00a0quadruple\u00a0the local rate. Spokane County\u2019s recent year-over-year rate was a wee bit higher than the\u00a0state\u2019s, although lower than in recent years. A fun fact:\u00a0At the current pace of growth, it will take 145 years\u00a0before Walla\u00a0Walla County\u2019s population doubles.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Population can increase either via the \u201cnatural increase,\u201d or the surplus of births over deaths. Or,\u00a0by a net positive count of\u00a0residents\u00a0who moved here from someplace else. As the Trends indicator on\u00a0<\/span>residual net migration<\/span><\/a>\u00a0shows, any increases\u00a0in the county have been\u00a0due to the latter factor. In fact, the natural increase in the county has been consistently\u00a0<\/span>negative<\/span><\/i>\u00a0since the start of the pandemic! To be fair, Walla Walla is not alone with this\u00a0composition of population growth. Several other Washington counties, all\u00a0rural, have found themselves in this situation recently.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Of course, the low pace may\u00a0not be\u00a0a negative.\u00a0Perhaps a\u00a0tortoise pace is what many Walla\u00a0Wallans\u00a0wish. After all, it was only a few years ago that bumper stickers could be seen on local\u00a0vehicles\u00a0with the\u00a0cry\u00a0\u201cdon\u2019t Bend Walla Walla.\u201d\u00a0Perhaps some\u00a0or many\u00a0residents are\u00a0content to keep the population count much\u00a0as\u00a0it has been.\u00a0Perhaps some\u00a0will be satisfied that\u00a0as\u00a0personal\u00a0income goes\u00a0up,\u00a0the\u00a0county\u00a0stays small but wealthier.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hard to imagine that median household income and wealth can\u00a0accrue\u00a0at a smart pace if certain conditions\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0meant. To attract newcomers, a community should have solid retail offerings. This is hard to\u00a0do,\u00a0if nearby communities are increasing their headcount much faster. Retailers will simply follow the numbers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Similarly, healthcare offerings,\u00a0especially for\u00a0specialized care, may stagnate if there is not a\u00a0relatively large\u00a0base to support providers. The result: more out-of-town trips for healthcare. And local school districts need at least a stable, i.e., not falling student count, to be able to offer both basic education and enriched programs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Finally,\u00a0existing\u00a0and potential employers may not see Walla Walla as a desirable locale to expand\u00a0in\u00a0or\u00a0enter\u00a0if they face a stagnant or even declining workforce. The labor market challenges posed by an aging population are not unique to Walla Walla, of course. But given the county\u2019s age profile, they are\u00a0likely a\u00a0bit more acute here. Without an expanding workforce, it is difficult to imagine the local economy faring well,\u00a0nor\u00a0local governments receiving the revenues required to provide their services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

So,\u00a0a case can be made for the need\u00a0to\u00a0Walla Walla to step on the population\u00a0pedal\u00a0a bit. How much should residents want? That depends on the trade-off between the benefits mentioned above and the desire to keep Walla Walla and not Bend.\u00a0How much local attitude influences\u00a0net in-migration is an open question, of course. But at the margins, it\u00a0likely makes\u00a0a difference.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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