county

Whatcom County, WA

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

AI Overview

Whatcom County, WA has a population of 234,954 and grew 5.4% over the past five years, with a median household income of $81,784 and a GDP per capita of $62,271. The labor force participation rate stands at 63.0% with a 5.1% unemployment rate, and 38.1% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs are notable, with a median home value of $536,100 and median gross rent of $1,465 per month, while a mean commute time of 22.1 minutes and a foreign-born population share of 9.9% round out the county's profile.

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

Population

234,954

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$81,784

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

38.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+5.4% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone179,852 (78.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races13,170 (5.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone10,418 (4.5%)
  • Asian Alone10,078 (4.4%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race10,073 (4.4%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone4,102 (1.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish13,913
  2. 2.Other Indo-European3,179
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)2,021
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic1,976
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic1,230

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

18.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

9.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

11,811

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$62,271

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$43,463

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance27,592
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services12,870
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services11,934
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)11,430
  5. 5.Retail Trade (Group)11,276

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations48,041
  2. 2.Service Occupations21,447
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations20,914
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations14,020
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations11,046

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.03×)3,671
  2. 2.Other Services (LQ 1.20×)6,409
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.19×)9,319
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.17×)11,663
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 1.10×)5,899

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$536,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,465/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

63.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,99919,611 (32.7%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99910,827 (18.1%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9999,683 (16.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9995,756 (9.6%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,9994,504 (7.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,623 (2.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

38.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

63.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$43,052

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

21.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone78,545 (69.2%)
  • Worked At Home16,755 (14.8%)
  • Carpooled8,486 (7.5%)
  • Walked4,391 (3.9%)
  • Public Transit2,073 (1.8%)
  • Bicycle2,045 (1.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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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.