county

Pierce County, WA

Demographic and economic profile of Pierce County, WA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Pierce County's economy is anchored in public-sector and military activity, with Joint Base Lewis-McChord driving significant federal employment across a labor force of roughly 625,000 participants (66.4% participation rate). The county's 941,170 residents have grown 7.5% over five years, with median household income at $99,564, though the bachelor's degree attainment rate of 30.1% sits below many comparable metro areas. Median home values of $484,400 and median gross rent of $1,722/month reflect elevated housing costs relative to median worker earnings of $51,828, while a 5.0% unemployment rate and 8.9% poverty rate round out the labor market picture.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

941,170

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$99,564

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

37.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+7.5% since 2018

Pierce County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone595,791 (64.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races90,778 (9.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone68,964 (7.4%)
  • Asian Alone64,156 (6.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race50,755 (5.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone34,564 (3.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish56,608
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island17,315
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic12,675
  4. 4.Korean10,633
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)9,745

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

14.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

10.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

75,769

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$52,763

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$45,885

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance102,331
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)51,961
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services45,670
  4. 4.Construction (Group)39,121
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)38,780

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations173,722
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations89,756
  3. 3.Service Occupations71,205
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations62,667
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations44,399

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Construction (LQ 1.35×)41,191
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.33×)13,523
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.31×)27,239
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.29×)33,207
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.07×)51,363

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$484,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,722/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

64.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,99977,646 (34.1%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99951,236 (22.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99929,872 (13.1%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99927,759 (12.2%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,99911,725 (5.2%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9995,048 (2.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

30.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

66.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$51,828

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone319,349 (70.7%)
  • Worked At Home62,916 (13.9%)
  • Carpooled43,769 (9.7%)
  • Walked10,077 (2.2%)
  • Public Transit9,688 (2.1%)
  • Other3,916 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.