Wahkiakum County Income Charts

This section shows the Wahkiakum County Washington economy using the most recent economic analysis from the 2022 Census Bureau. Starting with Figure 1 which shows the median earnings per worker, Wahkiakum County depicts it has a Median earnings of $46,375 which is the second smallest when ranked by median earnings per worker of all the other counties in the greater region. The county with the highest median earnings per worker in the area is Washington County which depicts a median earnings of $64,449 (39.0% larger). Comparing median earnings per worker to the United States average of $53,269, Wahkiakum County is about 14.9% smaller. Also, in contrast to the state of Washington, median earnings per worker of $63,384, Wahkiakum County is approximately three-fourths the size.

In Figure 2 a more complete view of income is shown which aggregates income from all members in the household and it has a Median household income of $54,422 which is the smallest as measured by median household income of all the other counties in the metropolitan area. The county with the highest median household income in the area is Washington County which shows a median income of $92,025 (69.1% larger). Comparing median household income to the United States average of $69,021, Wahkiakum County is approximately three-fourths the size. Also, benchmarked against the state of Washington, median household income of $82,400, Wahkiakum County is approximately three-fourths the size.

The next section examines a variety of different income statistics for the Wahkiakum County metropolitan area. In Figure 3 we see that it has the smallest proportion of earnings between $50,000 and $74,999 at 8.1% of the total. Dividing median annual worker earnings by the average number of hours worked in a year in Figure 4 shows that it has a Avg Hrly Earnings of $23.85 which is the second smallest when ranked by average hourly earnings of all the other counties in the area. The county with the highest average hourly earnings in the area is Washington County which shows an average hourly earnings of $32.28 (35.4% larger). Comparing average hourly earnings to the United States average of $26.40, Wahkiakum County is about 10.7% smaller. Also, versus the state of Washington, average hourly earnings of $31.66, Wahkiakum County is approximately three-fourths the size.

Figure 5 examines the number of self employed people in the Wahkiakum County metro area based on the number of people who reported any self employment income. Wahkiakum County shows it has a Self Employed of 10.0% which is in the middle range of other counties in the local area. The county with the highest percentage of people self employed in the area is Washington County which shows a percentage self employed of 11.6% (16.2% larger).

Figure 6 breaks down the source of income and Wahkiakum County has the largest proportion of income from wages at 4.9% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has the largest proportion of self employment income at 24.6% of the total and is ranked #1. Third, it has the largest proportion of investment and retirement income at 19.4% of the total and is ranked #1. Also, it has the largest proportion of social security at 1.8% of the total and is ranked #1.

The next chart (Figure 7) shows the percentage of households that had retirement income over the last 12 months and it has a With Retirement Income of 38.0% which is the largest of all counties in the greater Wahkiakum County region.

The percentage of full-time workers are compared to the number of part-time workers in Figure 8. Wahkiakum County shows full time employees approximately 2.4 times bigger as the part time employees.

Similar to the last chart is Figure 9 which shows the number of people who are self employed but in more detailed industry categories such as manufacturing, retail sales, residential real estate, commercial real estate, health care, exports/imports, and advanced industries, etc. Wahkiakum County depicts it has the hightest entrepreneurs of 33% for the self employed in professional, scientific, management, administrative services category.

Figure 10 shows the cost of living and other consumer spending categories for a variety of cost components from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wahkiakum County indicates it has the hightest cost of 120.5 for the cost of healthcare aggregate.

Wahkiakum County Poverty Charts

In Figure 11 the percentage of people earning less than the poverty level is shown and compared across the group of places. Wahkiakum County depicts it has a Percent of Population In Poverty of 10.6% which is the third most percent of people earning less than the poverty level of all other counties in the greater Wahkiakum County region. The county with the highest percent of people earning less than the poverty level in the area is Pacific County which depicts a percent of people in poverty of 13.7% (29.4% larger). Additionally, Figure 12 looks at the percentage of people who receive some form of public assistance including general assistance, temporary assistance or food stamps (i.e. SNAP.) Wahkiakum County shows it has a Public Assistance Percent of 10.3% which is the second smallest as measured by households with public assistance of all the other counties in the metro area. The county with the highest households with public assistance in the area is Cowlitz County which shows a households with public assistance of 19.6% (about twice as large).

Wahkiakum County Labor Force Charts

The table in Figure 13, shows Wahkiakum County employment data in terms of job categories and salary data.

The next two charts look at monthly trended employment related performance using data estimated by economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS tracks unemployment statistics for a large number of areas throughout the country on a month to month basis. However, not every location in the U.S. is tracked by the BLS so the chart will only show the closest location available (which may be the same location.) Figure 14 shows the monthly unemployment rate for the area as well as a comparison to the overall national economy measure for the United States. Note that in March to April 2022, the Covid 19 recession occurred and affects this metric. The monthly unemployment rate shows that from January 2017 to before the Coronavirus Pandemic it went from 4.8% to 4.4% in March 2020. This represents a decrease in the monthly unemployment rate of 8.3%. Since that time, the monthly unemployment rate has gone to 3.5%. This represents a decrease in the monthly unemployment rate of 20.5%.

Wahkiakum County Jobs Charts

In the jobs section of economic activity charts in Figure 15 shows the average annual earnings for very high level job industry categories for full time and year round employed.

Figure 16 shows the average median earnings for different categories of jobs.

Wahkiakum County Work Commute Charts

The following set of charts detail a variety of metrics that have economic impact, economic grow factors and economic development metrics in the Wahkiakum County community and has an impact on other factors such as economic growth, population growth, economic recovery, job growth, etc.. Figure 17 shows a high level view of how the population commutes to work (including the percent of people who work from home.) Wahkiakum County has the smallest proportion of people who drive a car or motorcycle to work at 0% of the total. Figure 18 shows a more detailed view of how the population commutes to work for (for example to downtown Wahkiakum County or elsewhere.) Wahkiakum County has the smallest proportion of people who take the bus at 0% of the total. Second, it has the smallest proportion of people who took a taxicab, motorcycle or other at 0% of the total.

Figure 19 is provided for comparison purposes to the previous chart. It shows how people get to work overall on average in the United States.

The average commute time is shown in Figure 21. Wahkiakum County shows it has a Avg Commute Time of 43 which is the highest of all counties in the greater Wahkiakum County region.