Feb. 20, 2008
King County Annual Growth Report: Growing diversity in suburbs, shrinking middle class throughout county
25th Annual King County Growth Report findings will help regional leaders
The report, which first began publication in 1983, provides population, economic, and housing information on each of King County's 39 cities, as well as statistical profiles on potential annexation areas (PAAs) of unincorporated King County.
This year's report shows that King County is growing more diverse and more densely populated. The increase in diversity is most pronounced in the suburbs outside of Seattle. Communities in south and east King County have experienced doubling and tripling of Latino, Asian and African-American populations since 1990 while Seattle's population of color has held relatively steady.
The Annual Growth Report will be a key tool used in the new Equity and Social Justice Initiative announced last week by King County Executive Ron Sims. Under the initiative King County is looking at new approaches in its work, including identifying and addressing the conditions at the root of inequities, and actively seeking out and promoting decisions and policies aimed at increasing equity and social justice for minority and poor residents.
"This report gives us hard numbers on what's working in King County and where inequities and difficulties may exist for some people in our region," said Sims. "By keeping this information top of mind during policy discussions and decision-making, we can start shaping more equitable policies and delivering services more effectively to improve the diminished quality of life that currently exists for some residents."
The 2007 Annual Growth Report also presents a summary of findings from the 2007 King County Buildable Lands Report (BLR). The BLR outlines King County's capacity to accommodate growth and it shows that residential densities have increased throughout the urban area of King County, allowing more efficient land use. Because of that, King County's urban area does have enough room to absorb our forecasted growth. In fact, King County jurisdictions found more than 22,000 acres of buildable land with room for up to 289,000 added housing units. This is more capacity than a similar report found in 2002, mainly due to the higher achieved densities.
Despite the improved use of land and continued strength in the housing construction sector over the first half of this decade, King County's middle class is shrinking while numbers of rich – and poor – households have increased. Income growth has been concentrated in families who make more than 150% of the county's median income and among those making less than half the median.
Even while average income has been increasing overall, the proportion of King County persons below poverty has steadily increased, especially outside of Seattle. In fact, between 1990 and the most recent Census measure in 2006, the number of persons below poverty outside Seattle increased from 56,500 to 103,000.
"The numbers show us the hard facts behind what we've suspected: not everyone is benefiting from economic rebound we've enjoyed in recent years," said Sims. "We can do better and we will, by working with partners, taking action, and chipping away at the social inequities that we all end up paying for, one way or another."
The 2007 Annual Growth Report contains many more facts and findings about development and demographics in 2006. The report can be found at http://www.metrokc.gov/budget/agr/agr07/.