Did you know there are over 170 different community indicators on Skagit County Trends - each updated throughout the year? But which ones, and when?
This issue of the Skagit County Trends blog lists some of the most recently updated indicators on the Skagit County Trends website.
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Recent Updates
In AGRICULTURE:
1.3.1 Average annual income in agriculture
Annual wages earned by Skagit County agricultural labor hit nearly $41,000 in 2021. That represents a 6.5% increase over 2020. That rate best the overall rate for all workers in the county. But the agricultural average lies about $16,000 below the overall average level in the county.
In ECONOMIC ACTIVITY:
2.1.2 Median Household Income (MHI)
MHI is one of the most important measures of economic progress. It usually gives a better understanding of the “middle” of the distribution of income. The Census estimate for 2021 for Skagit County put MHI over $72,500. It has typically been higher than MHI for the U.S. but lower than Washington state’s.
2.3.1 Civilian labor force & the labor force participation rate
The Skagit County civilian labor force (those employed and those unemployed but looking for work) had not regained its 2019 peak in 2021. The participation rate is a ratio of the civilian labor force, divided by the County population ages 16+. The participation rate in 2021 58.5%, below the Washington state rate by four percentage points.
2.3.6 Share of employment by privately owned firms, by firm size
The Skagit County economy tilts toward small businesses, In 2021, about 28% of all its workers were employed by firms with a headcount of 19 or less. This represents a much higher share than the one observed statewide.
In POPULATION HEALTH TRUST:
10.1.4 Share of adults receiving a routine medical exam last year
Preventive care is less expensive than acute care. A key measure of the pace of preventive care is an annual exam with a medical professional. Residents in Skagit County have slowly increased the rate of an annual visit, but it still lies below the rate overall in Washington state.
In HOUSING:
6.1.1 Homeownership rates by household income level
Home ownership in Skagit County runs high. For 2021, Census estimated that about 80% of the households with incomes greater than $35,000 owned their own home. This is much higher than in the Washington and the U.S. Until 2021, the share of lower income households in the county owning their own home has also been above the benchmarks.
6.2.4 Overall apartment vacancy rate
Most real estate economists reckon that a local rental market is “in balance” if the vacancy rate lies in the 5-6% range. As this indicator illustrates, the last year the county enjoyed a balance was 2016. Currently, demand far outstrips supply.
6.2.2 Renters paying 50% or more of household income on shelter costs
Housing experts usually look to a threshold of 30-35% of income taken by shelter costs for renting households. Above that, renters are said to be in “distress.” For those renting households with shelter costs exceeding 50%, “extreme distress” applies. Nearly a quarter of county renders found themselves in that position in 2021.
In TRANSIT:
9.1.3 Share of commuters using alternative modes of transportation
As the pandemic illustrated, there are many ways of “going” to work. Besides a privately owned vehicle, the most common way up to 2021 was carpooling. In 2021, work-from-home vaulted into the top choice of alternatives. The 2021 estimate for the county, at about 15%, was still lower than observed in the U.S. and Washington state.
updated 06.09.23
Blog Feature: Mental Health Awareness
May was National Mental Health Awareness Month, and even if you missed it, there is always time to increase awareness, education, support, and advocacy for people with mental health challenges and their families. For communities, a good start would be to take an inventory or assessment of mental health needs in their community.
Skagit County Trends 5.3.3 Share of Adults Reporting Poor Mental Health provides annual data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the nation’s premier system of health-related surveys run by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Adult individuals are asked whether they experienced two weeks or more of poor mental health out of the past month. Poor mental health in this case includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions.
Looking at the trend over the past decade (since 2012), we see that r Skagit County exhibits quite a bit more variability than the state benchmark. This is typical when using sample data as the sample size for Skagit is much lower than for the state. However, in looking carefully, it should be apparent that the Skagit share of adults reporting poor mental health is more often than not lower than the state benchmark. Fitting a linear trend line through both sets of points reveals that although Skagit adults are 1.5 percentage points below the state average, the county and state shares have been increasing at the same rate – 0.4 percentage points every year.
Currently, Skagit County adults are slightly less apt to experience poor mental health than the state average. According to the statistical estimates, in 2020, roughly one in eight Skagit County adults (12.5%) experience over two weeks of poor mental health in the past month compared to one in seven (14%) for the state average. However, this rate has been creeping upwards so that if the linear trend continues, in ten years hence, there could be one in six adults with poor mental health across the county.
Obviously, one data series is not sufficient to fully understand the depth or breadth of mental health in the county. To gain further understanding, there are resources and even more data available at the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) through the US Department of Health & Human Services. Although Skagit County Trends & even SAMHSA can help shine a light upon the overall state of mental health, ultimately, the onus falls upon communities to use data-informed decision-making to take important steps to improve these important health outcomes.
The full list of Skagit County Trends can be found here.