{"id":103,"date":"2020-06-25T20:07:12","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T20:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/?page_id=103"},"modified":"2021-03-26T03:36:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T03:36:33","slug":"blog","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know there are over 170 different community indicators on Skagit County Trends - each updated throughout the year? But which ones, and when?<\/p>\n

This issue of the Skagit County Trends blog lists some of the most recently updated indicators on the Skagit County Trends website.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This page will be updated and email alerts sent on a quarterly basis. Don't miss an update - subscribe today<\/a>!<\/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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Recent Updates<\/h2><\/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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In PEOPLE<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

The population of People of Color (POC) continues to slowly increase in Skagit County.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the onset of the pandemic, the estimated share of the non-White (including Hispanic) population has stayed about the same \u2013 around 30% in 2024. The largest groups contributing to this share are Hispanic\/Latinos, at 20%; two or more races, at 5%; and Asians, at a bit less than 3%. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The total POC estimated share a decade ago (2015) was lower, at 25%. And the total, current POC share in the county remains considerably lower than those of the state (39%) and the U.S. (44%). Whether the county\u2019s POC population will continue its historical expansion may well rest with national immigration policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In AGRICULTURE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agricultural employment shares continue to concentrate in the county\u2019s top crops.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2024, employment in the three top employing crops reached nearly 50% of all agricultural employment. A decade prior (2015), was lower, at about 44%. The current top three crops are, ranked: \u201cother vegetables,\u201d berries (but not strawberries) and potatoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Agricultural crop production has consolidated in Skagit County.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In ECONOMIC VITALITY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Average annual earnings in Skagit County\u2019s top 4 sectors significantly lag those of the state.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Every one of the 20 sectors of the local economy yields a distinct annual earnings profile. The profiles differ largely by wage differential, and in some cases, by hours worked. This indicator tracks the four most important, as measured by their average annual headcount. They are: \u00a0government (including school districts), manufacturing, healthcare & social assistance, and accommodation and food services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For 2024, the large sector with the lowest average annual earnings was accommodation and food services, at about $31,500. The large sector with the highest average annual earnings was government, at about $78,500. Manufacturing followed closely, while healthcare and social assistance was quite a bit lower. Note that annual earnings for these four sectors lie considerably below the state average, except for accommodation & food services (hospitality).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic\u2019s outbreak (2020), cumulative increases in average annual earnings of the four local sectors have been strong: government, at 24%; healthcare & social assistance, at 27%; and hospitality, at 42%. These increases have outpaced their sector counterparts statewide. Only the local manufacturing sector, with cumulative increase at 8%, has lagged its state average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consumer prices here are hardly much cheaper than those of all metro areas in the U.S.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no Consumer Price Index (CPI) tallied in the state outside of the Seattle metro area. However, clever economists at the U.S. Department of Commerce have created a relative measure, based in part on the CPI of the nearest large metro area, and on local housing prices, for all 387 metro areas in the country. Formally, it is a ratio, with the numerator capturing the estimated costs of one metro area and the denominator the all-metro national average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is known as the \u201cRegional Price Parity.\" (RPP) A value of 100 indicates perfect parity with the all-metro average. A value less than 100 indicates a lower price level than the average, and one greater than 100 a higher price level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It might surprise readers to learn that in more years than not, the RPP for Skagit County has been higher than 100. \u00a0The most recent reading (2024) put the local index at 102.4. This is a bit lower than for Whatcom County (103.3) and considerably lower than the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area (111.1).\u00a0<\/p>\n

In ENVIRONMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The share of renewably-generated electricity consumed in Skagit County continues to climb.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Much has changed in the fuel mix that produces electricity used by county residents. As of 2024, that fuel mix is determined by Puget Power\u2019s sourcing decisions, as it is the sole electricity provider to the county.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024, about 20% of all the electrons consumed by county residents came from wind generation. About 0.5% came from biomass. Except for 2023 these are the highest shares ever. A decade ago (2015), wind\u2019s share was 3.9%! As the graph reveals, the share of renewables consumed here, not counting hydroelectricity, is much higher than the state average. That said, the sister indicator to this measure,\u00a04.3.1<\/a>, reveals that county residents most recently sourced about a third of their electrons from natural gas and 18% from coal.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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In HEALTH<\/b>:<\/p>\n

The share of adults reporting poor mental health continues to increase.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mental health, in all its manifestations, brings individual, family and community challenges. This measure, from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), tracks the share of adults (18+) who report that over the past month, at least half of their days were challenged by mental health concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The most share estimated by the CDC for Skagit County (2024) was 16%, or about one of every six adults. This has risen slightly over the past dozen years. The share remains a bit lower than the state average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To simplify the graph, click on those items in the legend you would like to hide.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The share of the County population without health insurance remains stable.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Healthcare insurance coverage in Skagit County remains strong. The most recent estimates (2024) from Census show about 8,400 residents without health insurance, or a little more than 6% of the population. This low share has continued since the pandemic and unlike the experience in other Washington counties, is very close to the low share observed at the launch of the Affordable Care Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The current county results are largely indistinguishable from those of the state \u2013 by shares -- and two percentage lower than the national average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The share of adults receiving a medical exam last year matches that of the state.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Routine checkups, and prevention in general, go a long way to reducing acute care needs and treatment. But for many reasons, not everyone receives routine wellness exams. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tracks, at the county level, the share of adults who receive them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For 2024, the CDC estimated that 72% of county adults did receive them. This share is nearly identical to the statewide experience, a first for the county. For all the years tracked, the share here has lain below that state average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In PUBLIC SAFETY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Domestic violence offenses continue to fall.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Domestic violence has received a higher level of attention in the past years and for good reasons. Violence within the family, the unit of life that should be based on love and respect, is especially troublesome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2024, the most recent year with reported data, witnessed a continuation of the declines observed since the peak a dozen years ago. In 2024, the number of reported offenses was 1,009, yielding a rate per 1,000 residents of 7.6. That rate ties the lowest rate seen in the indicator, in 2008. The year 2024 also represents the first time that the Skagit County rate has been below the state average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In TRANSIT<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Commuters using alternatives to privately-owned vehicles show some staying power.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Census provides annual estimates of commuting by means other than the privately owned vehicle (POV). This indicator reflects that shares of commuters using the following transportation modes: carpooling, working from home (WFH), walking, public transportation, and walking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024, these alternatives amounted to an estimated total of 26% of all commute trips, implying that POV trips made up three quarters of the commutes. Of the alternatives, carpooling and WFH matter most clearly matter. In 2024, their shares were 11,4% and 11.1%, respectively. In pre-pandemic 2019, their shares were 11.5% and 5.1%, respectively. Clearly, WFH has dramatically expanded among county residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Note, however, that the practice of working from home locally is still lower than in the U.S. and the state. The current estimates for these geographies are 16.4% and 13.3%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

updated 2.12.26<\/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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The full list of Skagit County Trends<\/strong> can be found here<\/a>.<\/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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New Intern Features:<\/h1><\/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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\"Image\"<\/div><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Janay Bowen<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Hometown:<\/strong> San Jose, CA

Major:<\/strong> Professional Accounting

Expected Graduation Date:<\/strong> Spring 2027

Post-graduation plans:<\/strong> Work at a local accounting firm to become a CPA.

After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:\u00a0<\/strong>My favorite thing so far is when I get into the flow state of work, and I am understanding and creating spreadsheets that I know help the counties we work for.<\/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<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-103","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitcountytrends.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}