By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
Central Puget Sound residents tend to make more money, are better educated and face less poverty than people in the state’s other urban centers — Spokane County in the east and Clark County to the south.
But higher housing costs and longer commutes offset those pluses, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 2000 snapshot of Washington’s five most-populous counties, including Snohomish County, reveals splits that track with what some refer to as the "two Washingtons."
Snohomish County households enjoyed the highest median income among those counties at an estimated $54,022. Both Snohomish and King counties ranked in the top third for income levels among the nation’s 216 most urban counties. They had poverty rates putting them in the bottom half of counties nationwide.
By contrast, Spokane County, and to a lesser degree Clark County, are reverse images of the Puget Sound counties, ranking in the top third for poverty rates and the bottom half for income.
The Puget Sound has long been a more established urban center, with a diversified economy drawing more educated workers and young adults from around the state, state demographer Theresa Lowe said.
Clark County was the fastest-growing county in the state during the ’90s. That’s partly because it served as a bedroom community for people working in nearby Portland, Ore., Lowe said.
"It has a strong economy itself, but it still doesn’t have quite the urban characteristics that our large and long-standing Puget Sound counties have had," she said.
Spokane, meanwhile has fared less well partly because it’s isolated from major transportation networks, said Ta-Win Lin, a regional economist for the state’s Office of Financial Management.
King County boasted the most-educated residents of the five counties, with 41 percent of people 25 or older holding at least a four-year college degree. Snohomish County was second with 27 percent.
On the state’s eastern edge, nearly a quarter of Spokane residents 25 or older had at least a bachelor’s degree, while 21 percent did in Clark County.
The newest statistics also reveal some of the prices people pay for living in the Puget Sound.
Property values were among the highest in the nation in Snohomish and King counties, with home prices ranking in the top fifth of counties. A median Snohomish County homeowner spent nearly $475 a month more on house payments than one in Spokane County.
Snohomish County commuters also spent more time in traffic, with an average of nearly 28 minutes. That’s in the top quarter of counties nationwide and second to Pierce County in Washington state.
By comparison, Spokane County drivers zipped to work in an average of 19 minutes.
Lowe cautioned the newest census numbers may prove skewed. Unlike the door-to-door 2000 census, the latest estimates are based on a survey of 700,000 households. That widens the margin for error.
The bureau also has warned against comparing the new information to statistics from 1990 because of differences in how the information was collected.
The economic data also came before the region’s economic slump took its toll on the Puget Sound economy.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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