County Factsheet: Washington County, Oregon
| Summary County Data (and Source) | |
|---|---|
| Population (2008 CB est.): | 529,216 |
| Population (2000 Census): | 445,342 |
| Foreign-born Population (2008 FAIR est.): | 88,485 |
| Foreign-born Population (2000 Census): | 63,438 |
| Share Foreign Born (2008): | 16.7% |
| Share Foreign Born (2000): | 14.2% |
| Immigrant Settlement 1991-98 (INS): | 8,335 |
| Population Projection 2025 (FAIR): | 1,087,800 |
COUNTY POPULATION
The population of Washington County was estimated by the Census Bureau at 529,216 residents as of July 2008. That was an increase of 18.8 percent since the 2000 Census.
The 2000 Census recorded 445,342 residents in the County, an increase of 42.9 percent from the 311,554 residents in 1990. During the previous decade, the population increased by 26.7 percent from 245,808 in 1980.
According to the 2008 Census Bureau estimate, Washington County's population has increased since July 2000 from domestic migration (an annual average of about 2,790 more native-born residents arriving than leaving), natural change (an annual average of about 4,940 more births than deaths) and net international migration (an annual average of about 2,705 more foreign-born residents arriving than leaving). Therefore, immigration was the smallest component of population change, and it accounted for nearly one-fourth (23.5%) of the County's population increase.
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
FAIR estimates the foreign-born population in Washington County in mid-year 2008 to be about 88,485 persons (16.7% of the population). This represents an increase of 39.5 percent from the 2000 Census and compares with a 15.4 percent increase in the native-born population.
Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 33.4 percent share of the County's current births is large enough to account for about 2,560 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may be adding as many as 5,265 persons to the County's population annually, which is more than two-fifths (45.8%) of the county's annual average population increase.
The 2000 census recorded 63,438 foreign-born residents in Washington County. That was a 14.2 percent share of the overall population, which was higher than the share for the state (8.5%). The 2000 data showed an increase of 178.9 percent in the immigrant population since 1990, which compared with a 32.2 percent increase in the native-born population (which includes children born to immigrants) over the same period. As a result, the increase in the immigrant population accounted for 30.4 percent of the County's population increase.
In 2000, the Census recorded more than half (53.1%) of the County's foreign-born population had entered since 1990. This was higher than the rate as for the state overall (50%). About one-third (32.1%) of the foreign-born residents had become naturalized U.S. citizens. This was slightly lower than the rate for the state overall (33.6%).
Another indicator of the impact of the foreign-born population may be seen in data on residents who speak a language other than English at home. In the County in 2000, the share of other-than-English speakers at home (age 5 and older) was 18.6 percent. Nearly half (49.3%) of those persons admitted to speaking English less than very well.
In 1990, there were about 22,860 foreign-born residents in the County. That constituted a foreign-born share of 7.1 percent of the population. By comparison, the foreign-born population shares of the Country and the state in 1990, respectively, were 7.9 percent and 4.9 percent.
LEGAL IMMIGRATION
A study released by the Center for Immigration Studies in October 2001 indicated that there were 8,335 legal immigrants who indicated that they intended to settle in Washington County between FY'91-'98. This number did not include persons granted legal immigrant status as a result of the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. The ten countries that supplied the largest number of these new immigrants are shown below.
| Immigrant Admissions FY'91-'98: Top Ten Countries | ||
| Rank | Country | No. of Immigrants |
| 1 | Mexico | 1,285 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 881 |
| 3 | China * | 741 |
| 4 | Soviet Union | 609 |
| 5 | India | 607 |
| 6 | Korea | 532 |
| 7 | Philippines | 437 |
| 8 | Canada | 335 |
| 9 | Iran | 296 |
| 10 | Romania | 239 |
* includes Hong Kong and Taiwan
POPULATION PROJECTION 2025
The current rate of population change between 1990-00, if continued, would result in a population in 2025 of 1,087,800. That is more than double (144.3%) the 2000 population. While it seems unlikely that the county could sustain the high rate of population increase of the 1990s for the next 25 years, the projection reflects what the results would be if that were to happen.
